Earlier in the month the Financial Times reported the bank was in talks with US private equity firms Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic with a view to selling a minority stake in the business, which has around €161bn under management.
The asset management division was until recently under the control of Javier Marin Romano, who was named as the bank’s CEO in April following the retirement of Alfredo Saenz amid an on-going criminal matter which could have seen him banned from banking.
In a statement, the bank said: “In response to recent press speculation, Banco Santander, S.A. ("Santander") reports it is exploring the possibility of incorporating investors to its asset management division although no agreement has been reached yet for any such investment.
“Santander will inform the market as appropriate in any case an agreement to implement such investment is reached.”
Ongoing efforts
This is not the first time the bank has attempted to sell stakes in its asset management arm, with previous deals falling at the last hurdle due to the high concentration of assets in its troubled home country.
Its reputation was also tarnished following the discovery that its Geneva-based hedge fund investment arm had committed €2.3bn of investor capital into Madoff-linked assets.
The move is the latest in a series of divestments being considered by the bank, including the partial spin-off of its Mexican subsidiary, and the likely listing of its US auto finance division. In 2011 it sold a $1bn stake in the latter to a private equity consortium which included Walburg Pincus.
