Banco Santander bids $5.8 billion for Poland's BZ WBK

Banco Santander SA, Spain's top lender, has launched a tender offer in Poland for 100 per cent of the share capital of the Polish entity Bank Zachodni WBK, for around $5.86 billion (Euro 4.29 billion).

Under the tender offer, Banco Santander is offering 226.89 Zloty (PLN) in cash per share (approximately 58.74 euros) for the Polish bank, valuing it at PLN 16,580,216,589.57 (approximately 4,293.4 million euros).

The tender offer is part of the agreement between Banco Santander and Allied Irish Banks for the acquisition of AIB's stake in BZ WBK, announced on 10 September 2010, the Spanish bank said in release.

The tender offer will be open for acceptance from 24 February 2011 to 25 March 2011 and it is expected to be closed on 1 April 2011.

The offer, made in Poland, is subject to Polish law, subject to the terms and conditions included in the tender offer submitted to the Polish securities regulator - Polish Financial Supervision Commission and the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Santander said.

The consummation of the tender offer is subject to the satisfaction of the conditions indicated in the tender offer document, including the acceptance of the tender offer by holders of more than 70 per cent of the outstanding shares of BZ WBK and the approval by the Polish regulatory authorities of the acquisition by Grupo Santander of BZ WBK, it said.

Santander had, in September 2010, agreed to buy Allied Irish Banks' 70.4 per cent holding in BZ WBK for 2.9 billion euros, beating French bank BNP Paribas and PKO BP, Poland's top lender.

The deal, which gives the Spanish lender a strong foothold in the Polish market, is awaiting approval by the Polish financial regulator KNF.