Santander AM To Join Unicredit Despite Brexit and Italian Banks Crisis

Banco Santander key markets

Despite the rumours, top Spanish Bank Santander -Eurozone’s 3rd largest by market cap- will indeed complete this year the merger of its asset management fund (Santander AM) with Pioneer Investments, Italian UniCredit’s subsidiary, once the operation meets the regulatory and legal requirements. A EUR5.3 bn deal that has been simmering for more than 20 months.

The Financial Times reported last week that risks derived from the Brexit vote and the market fears about Italian banking industry -Unicredit had even seen management changes-, may compromise the merger. However Santander will stick to its plan and create an equity fund holding around EUR353 billion in assets in Europe and LatAm.

Ex-SocGen chief Jean-Pierre Mustier was named new CEO at the end of June, replacing Federico Ghizzoni who stepped down after months of investor dissatisfaction. Meanwhile, Santander executive chairman Emilio Botín died in September 2014 just before the initial deal was agreed and was replaced then by his daughter Ana Patricia Botín.

According to the terms of revised agreement, Santander Asset Management and Pioneer Investments would each have a 33 per cent stake in the combined company. Furthermore, it would operate in 31 countries and have a total staff of 2.800 people.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.