Banco
"We've always said it's our obligation and responsibility to look at everything, that is add-on acquisitions in all our markets," Botin said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Marrakesh when asked about the U.K. firm. "If we do any acquisition it's going to be very strict in terms of the financial and strategic targets."
Metro Bank clinched a £925 million ($1.1 billion) financing package over the weekend that will impose a haircut on some bondholders and see Colombian financier Jaime Gilinski take a controlling interest. The deal for now has put an end to weeks of speculation over the company's future.
Consulting firm Ernst & Young had been hired earlier to find a buyer for Metro Bank as the challenger bank races to strengthen its balance sheet, Bloomberg reported.
Botin declined to comment on Metro Bank specifically. She also declined to detail her plans for
Santander's corporate and investment banking unit contributes about a third of group profit. Its expansion into the U.S. has been prompted by the acquisition of broker Amherst Pierpoint Securities, a primary dealer for the Federal Reserve.
With businesses from Spain to the U.K., Brazil and the U.S., Banco Santander is one of the largest retail banks in the world. It has about 212,000 employees and a market capitalization of 55.7 billion euros ($59.5 billion). Botin has been executive chairman of the lender since her father died in 2014.
