“If you are not in the U.S., you cannot aspire to be a global bank,” stated Ana Botín, Executive Chair of Banco Santander, explaining the acquisition of Webster for $12.2 billion—an all-stock transaction. She described the move as a “growth operation” that will “allow us to increase earnings by 7% and positions us to be one of the most competitive banks in the U.S., with the expectation of reaching an 18% ROTE by 2028 because it gives us the scale necessary to compete, much like TSB in the UK… The goal is to be the most profitable bank in each of our markets, and that will be achieved in the U.S. by 2028.”
Botín estimates the transaction will yield a 15% return, “significantly higher than a share buyback” (a €5 billion buyback program begins tomorrow), with $800 million in synergies and the integration of all its U.S. businesses (Openbank has attracted $8 billion there over the last 15 months).
With this deal, Santander adds 2 million commercial banking customers to the 180 million customers the bank reported at the end of the 2025 fiscal year, which closed with a profit of €14.101 billion.
In 2025, Santander achieved a RoTE of 16.3% and a CET1 ratio of 13.5%, with an efficiency ratio of 41.2% and a 17% increase in Earnings Per Share (EPS).
