By David Román and Jeannette Neumann
MADRID-- Emilio Botín, chairman of Banco Santander SA and widely
regarded as one of the most powerful people in Spain over the past
three decades, has died of a heart attack at the age of 79.
The bank, which announced his death Wednesday, said its board
would meet later in the day to pick a successor. Spanish bankers
and Santander advisers said the late chairman's eldest daughter,
Ana Patricia Botín, was most likely to get the job held by three
generations of Botíns.
A less likely scenario, these people said, is that one of the
bank's three deputy chairmen-- Fernando de Asúa Álvarez, Matías
Rodríguez Inciarte or Guillermo de la Dehesa Romero--would assume
the job for three to five years, overseeing a transition period
until Ms. Botín takes over. A person close to the bank said the
board meeting was called for 4 p.m. Madrid time.
Ms. Botín, 53 years old, runs the bank's U.K. operations and has
long been considered the natural heir to the Botín banking dynasty.
But industry observers had expected her father to live longer,
giving her time to strengthen the bank's U.K. position and bolster
her credentials for the top job. Santander has repeatedly delayed a
planned initial public offering of the U.K. unit, a step viewed as
a test for Ms. Botín.
Mr. Rodríguez Inciarte is considered the top contender among the
three deputy chairmen because of his more public profile in recent
years and his background in Spanish politics, Spanish bankers and
Santander advisers say.
These people said Ms. Botín has the edge because she has held
senior management positions at Santander's units in Spain, Latin
America, and the U.K., and because each of the deputy chairmen is
over 65.
Her selection "will project a modern image of the bank, a woman,
well-trained, who speaks beautiful English," said Mauro Guillén, a
professor at the Wharton School of Management and author of a book
about Santander. "It's what the market expects, and the last thing
Santander will want to do is surprise the market."
Uncertainty over the succession drove Santander's shares lower
Wednesday. In the early afternoon they traded down 1.3%. The bank
is the largest in the eurozone by market value.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Mr. Botín's death was
a loss for the country because he was a driver of corporate Spain's
international expansion.
"This has been a surprise, since I just had a meeting with him
last week and he looked to be well, in great shape," Mr. Rajoy
added. "It's a big blow."
Calling Mr. Botín "a pioneer," Sergio Ermotti, CEO of Swiss bank
UBS AG said his death was "a great loss to the industry."
Mr. Botín was born in 1934 in Santander, a small city on the
northern coast of Spain, traditionally the busiest trading port for
the Castille region.
The Botíns have controlled Banco Santander since the early 20th
century, when Emilio Botín's grandfather became chairman. Emilio
Botín became a board member in 1960, and succeeded his father as
chairman in 1986.
An able negotiator, Mr. Botín took advantage of government plans
to force mergers in Spain's banking sector, with the aim of
creating larger lenders that would better able to compete in the
European market.
The implosion of larger rival Banesto SA, which was taken over
by the government in late 1993, offered a key opening for Mr.
Botín, who secured the purchase of the troubled lender at an
auction the next year.
From that point, Mr. Botín increased the scale of Santander
through an aggressive series of acquisitions, gaining a reputation
for deal-making that soon went beyond Spanish borders.
The purchase of the U.K.'s Abbey National in 2004, a then-rare
move by a Spanish company into the British market, was a key step
along the way.
Several acquisitions in Latin America have also contributed to
Santander's rapid growth, but it was a move in Italy--for centuries
a tough market for Spanish businesspeople--that many regard as Mr.
Botín's greatest hit, said Nick Anderson, an analyst at Berenberg
Bank.
In 2007, Banco Santander made a 50% profit on the sale of
Italy's Antonveneta to rival bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena,
for EUR9 billion ($11.7 billion)--just a few days after it bought
Antonveneta.
The deal was the closing touch to a series of transactions that
had resulted in Santander taking over Antonveneta--which it touted
as a first step on a planned expansion in Italy that never
happened--as part of a combined deal to buy Dutch lender
ABN-Amro.
The sheer complexity of the ABN deal, involving several other
European banks, the unusual speed with which Antonveneta was bought
and sold and the large premium for the deal are all cited by
observers as hallmarks of Mr. Botín's business acumen.
Mr. Botín was "a legendary character...[and] a phenomenal deal
maker" whose passing marked "the end of an era," Mr. Anderson
said.
An avid golfer, one of his daughters was married to golf star
Severiano Ballesteros, Mr. Botín was also a big fan of Formula One
motor racing, which Santander sponsored, and especially Spanish
former World Champion Fernando Alsonso.
Write to David Román at david.roman@wsj.com and Jeannette
Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com
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