How Botín got what he wanted out of ABN
IT MIGHT BE one of Emilio Botín’s smallest deals, but Santander’s agreed bid for UK bank Alliance & Leicester seals his reputation as one of the greatest bank dealmakers of his generation.
While HBOS, the largest mortgage lender in the UK, was waiting for the results of a disastrous rights issue, Santander’s Abbey had quickly bought 2.5% of the UK banking market for a little over £1 billion ($2 billion).
The speed with which the deal was concluded took everybody by surprise. Less than 24 hours after picking up a trophy for being the best bank in the UK at Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence dinner in London on July 10, Abbey’s chief executive, António Horta Osório, was ready to make his move for A&L.
At 4.35pm on Friday afternoon, just...
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