By Christopher Bjork
MADRID--Banco Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) has no plans to make
any acquisitions with the proceeds from its EUR7.5 billion ($8.88
billion) capital increase, Chairman Ana Botin said on Thursday.
"We're exclusively focusing on organic growth. We might look at
small items in our main core markets, but this is not for
acquisitions," Ms. Botin said during a conference call with
investors.
Ms. Botin said Spain's largest lender will use the cash raised
from the share sale to support growth in its main markets, which
include the U.K, Brazil, Mexico, the U.S. and its home market.
"We see a structural growth opportunity, due partly to the
change in cycle and also partly to the opportunities we have in our
core markets," she said.
Santander, which hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG to to
oversee the capital increase, expects to complete the capital
increase by early Friday. The bank is selling more than a billion
new shares to institutional investors.
Write to Christopher Bjork to christopher.bjork@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires