Santander, M&T Execs to Meet Again

Banco Santander of Spain is trying to resurrect talks to combine its U.S. business with M&T Bank Corp. after negotiations collapsed last month, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Santander and M&T recently scheduled a meeting between the banks' top executives, two of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

The banks' leaders still disagree on who would control the combined firm — the issue that led the discussions to break down in May, the people said.

Before talks fell apart, Santander had been discussing a stock merger of its Sovereign Bank unit and M&T in which the Spanish bank would end up with a minority stake, said one of the people. Santander has also been considering buying Allied Irish Banks PLC's 22.5% stake in M&T.

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