Banco Santander announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire 80% of WayCarbon Soluções Ambientais e Projetos de Carbono (‘WayCarbon’), a leading Brazil-based ESG consultancy firm.  

WayCarbon has been advising public and private organisations on their energy transition for 15 years, with 170 employees serving clients across 18 countries. The business provides three core services to help clients develop and implement strategies to increase their sustainability:  ESG consultancy; management software to support the tracking and implementation of ESG strategies; and carbon credit trading. 

The acquisition is an important step to further enhance Santander’s own sustainability offerings to support the bank’s clients across all markets in their energy transition.  It will also help Santander progress further in its own ESG objectives by engaging in the voluntary carbon market, reforestation and forest conservation programmes and other emissions trading schemes.

The carbon markets allow companies, non-profit organizations, governments and individuals to buy and sell carbon offset credits, an instrument that represents the reduction of a specific amount of emissions.

José M Linares, global head of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB), said: “As an industry leader in ESG, WayCarbon will help us with our own objectives and our clients´ in their transition to more sustainable business models. Santander has vast experience in sustainable projects and is a global leader and pioneer in renewable energy finance. This deal will help maintain Santander at the forefront of this critical space”.

WayCarbon CEO Felipe Bittencourt said: “WayCarbon, which has B-corp certification reflecting its commitment to generating profit with a purpose, is focused on catalyzing the transition to a low-carbon economy and has been growing fast in the last few years. This agreement with Santander will expand our business's global scale, with specialized products and services for a wider range of companies in its ten core markets in Europe and the Americas, so we’ll have a greater impact”.

Santander aims to raise or facilitate €120 billion in green finance between 2019 and 2025 and €220 billion by 2030 as part of its responsible banking agenda and its support for its customers transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

It is already carbon neutral in its own operations. To reach net-zero emissions for the whole group by 2050 in support of the Paris Agreement objectives and the transition to a low-carbon economy, Santander will align its power generation portfolio with the Paris Agreement by 2030.

The transaction, which is expected to close by the second quarter of 2022, subject to closing conditions, will have a negligible impact on the group’s capital and deliver a return on invested capital of 30-50% in 3-4 years. 

Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) has appointed Jorge Gil to lead the infrastructure industry practice, reporting to Darren Jones, head of SCIB UK and global head of Banking & Corporate Finance (B&CF). 

Jorge has spent 20 years in Ferrovial, one of the world's largest private-sector developers of transport infrastructure, where he has held senior roles such as CEO of the Airports and Power Infrastructure subsidiaries, finance director of Ferrovial Group, and Corporate and Business Development and Structured Finance director of Cintra. He has served on the boards of some of the world's largest private infrastructure assets, such as Heathrow Airport, 407ETR highway in Toronto and Indiana Toll Road. Jorge has a truly international profile, having worked on transactions all around the world. Prior to joining Ferrovial, he worked for Chase Manhattan Bank in the Corporate Finance and M&A areas.

Darren Jones, head of SCIB UK and global head of Banking & Corporate Finance: “I am fully confident that Jorge’s appointment will bring our already strong Infrastructure franchise to the next level and, more broadly, complement the investments we are making in energy transition, digital and broader corporate finance agenda.”

Jorge Gil mentioned: “I am thrilled to join a leading global firm such as Santander CIB and look forward to reinforcing the successful high profile built up over the past years.”
 

The bank returns to Formula 1 as the new partner of Scuderia Ferrari, the sport’s most successful team.

Over the term of the partnership, Santander will advise Scuderia Ferrari on its plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Banco Santander today announced a new alliance to become one of the premium partners of Scuderia Ferrari. The bank’s logo will feature prominently on the team's cars, race suits and caps. Over the term of the partnership, Santander will offer Scuderia Ferrari a wide range of solutions to support the team’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Formula 1 is one of the most watched sports in the world. It had a cumulative worldwide audience of 1.5 billion in 2021, according to Nielsen, with nearly half in the bank’s markets in Europe (Spain, UK, Germany, France, Italy, among others) and the Americas (Brazil, Mexico, USA). 23 grand prix have been confirmed for 2022, with several taking place in the bank’s largest markets. Formula 1 aims to become net zero by 2030.

In 2020, Santander was the world’s leading bank in renewable energy finance. Its investment banking arm, Santander CIB, has dedicated teams that advise clients on their green transition. The bank has also been carbon neutral in its own operations since 2020 and is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions in all its lending, advisory and investment activities by 2050. Furthermore, its car financing operations in Europe (Santander Consumer Finance), the USA (Santander Consumer USA) and other markets are supporting the development of sustainable mobility solutions.

Ana Botín, executive chairman of Santander, said: “We are very excited to work with Ferrari again, and support them in the green transition. Santander is fully committed to tackling climate change, and as Europe’s leading provider of auto finance, we are determined to help the auto industry as it goes green. Our new partnership with Ferrari will accelerate our common progress.”

John Elkann, chairman of Ferrari, said: “It’s an honour to team up again with a global financial institution like Santander, which is committed to responsible banking and has shown leadership in renewable energy finance and ESG (environmental, social and governance) advisory services all around the world. We look forward partnering with them to deliver our key objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. We believe Formula One with its innovations and technological developments will benefit our industry and ultimately society as a whole.”

For 70 years, F1 and its teams’ investments have served as a test bed for several technological developments from aerodynamics to brake design, which has helped the car industry reduce CO2 emissions. Since 2014, F1 cars have become 50% more fuel efficient. F1 aims to unveil in 2026 the new Formula 1 engine – the second-generation hybrid power unit – which will be carbon neutral and powered by advanced sustainable fuel.

Scuderia Ferrari is streamlining its logistics with lower transportation weight, bans on single-use plastics and other measures. This year, the FIA awarded Ferrari the three-star environmental accreditation.

Banco Santander had already played a part in Formula 1 from 2007 and 2017, enjoying a successful partnership with Scuderia Ferrari from 2010. Besides F1, the bank is also a major promoter of European and Latin American football competitions. It currently sponsors Spain’s LaLiga Santander and the Conmebol Libertadores. Furthermore, it supports several other popular sports in Europe and Latin America.

• The award recognizes Santander’s efforts to make financial services accessible to everyone and improve financial knowledge through education programs.
• The work the bank has done to help people increase their confidence in using digital channels through the pandemic was also acknowledged by the magazine.
• Euromoney also recognized Santander for its role as joint lead manager advising European Investment Bank (EIB) in the first ever digital bond on a public blockchain, which received the Financial Innovation of the Year award. 

Euromoney has recognised Santander as the World’s Best Bank for Financial Inclusion in its “Global Awards for Excellence 2021”, highlighting the group’s efforts to make financial services more accessible.

The magazine distinguished Santander’s efforts to financially empower individuals and entrepreneurs through a range of programs in Latin America, Europe and the US, as well as the work Santander has done more broadly to help people, especially the elderly, adopting digital channels through the pandemic.

Ana Botín, Santander Group executive chairman, said: “In the last three years we have financially empowered 6 million people, with the goal to empower more than 10 million by 2025. The impact can be life-changing: from supporting entrepreneurs in setting up new businesses through our micro finance programs, to helping individuals who want to build confidence in using digital banking. This is critical to creating inclusive, sustainable growth, and I am delighted that Euromoney has recognized the efforts and innovations of our teams across the world.”

Through Santander’s Finance for All initiatives, the Group is increasing access to basic financial services, offering specific products and services to those who are financially vulnerable and promoting financial education to help people make better financial decisions. Since 2019, those initiatives have financially empowered 6 million people, and Santander has the commitment to reaching 10 million by 2025.

One of those initiatives is Superdigital, Santander’s flagship 100% digital platform for making payments in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. Superdigital leverages the rapid growth in smartphone adoption and improved network coverage in Latin America to increase financial inclusion in the region. It is expanding its services to reach five million active customers by 2023 across seven markets in Latin America.

Santander has two other specific programs to provide financing for micro entrepreneurs and individuals with difficulties obtaining credit: Tuiio and Prospera. Thanks to those two initiatives, Santander has supported 1.3 micro-entrepreneurs in Latin America, out of which 81% were women.

During the pandemic, the group has been especially vigilant in supporting elderly or vulnerable customers and ensuring they can access financial services, contacting them proactively to help build confidence in using digital banking services. It also produced simple step-by-step videos and guides for online and mobile banking.

In August, Santander was also recognised as the most innovative bank for its financial inclusion initiatives by The Banker, a Financial Times magazine. The publication highlighted the agreement reached with Correos in Spain, enabling Santander to offer its cash deposit and withdrawal through the 4,650 Correos locations, expanding even further the Group’s offer of essential financial services in rural areas.

Financial Innovation of the Year

Santander also won the Financial Innovation of the Year award for its role as joint lead manager advising European Investment Bank in the first-ever digital bond on a public blockchain. The EUR 100m and 2-year maturity bond was placed with key market investors, representing the market’s first multi‑dealer led, primary issuance of digitally native tokens using a public blockchain.

The transaction used Ethereum, a public blockchain protocol, and it was a milestone for Santander’s CIB Digital Solutions Group (DSG). Santander CIB created the unit at the beginning of 2021 to partner with global coverage and product teams to provide comprehensive support in the digital acceleration of customer’s business. This unit also produces added-value digital products and financing structures to help Santander’s clients in the digital acceleration of their business.

Euromoney magazine has been a leading publication in international finance for 50 years. Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence were established in 1992 and are the global benchmark for the banking industry.

Press release [PDF]

Highly complementary acquisition, transforming Santander’s Corporate & Investment Banking structuring and distribution capabilities in fixed income capital markets and securitized products.

Madrid/Boston, 15 July 2021.
Banco Santander today announced that Santander Holdings USA, the bank’s US holding company, has reached an agreement to acquire Amherst Pierpont Securities, a market-leading independent fixed-income broker dealer, through the acquisition of its parent holding company, Pierpont Capital Holdings LLC, for a total consideration of approximately $600 million (c.€500 million). Amherst Pierpont will become part of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) global business line.

Amherst Pierpont is a leading independent broker-dealer based in the US, with a premier fixed-income and structured product franchise. It was designated a primary dealer of U.S. Treasuries by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2019 and is currently one of only three non-banks to hold that designation. Amherst Pierpont has approximately 230 employees serving more than 1,300 active institutional clients from its headquarters in New York and offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, other US locations and Hong Kong.

Completion of the acquisition significantly enhances Santander CIB’s infrastructure and capabilities in market making of US fixed income capital markets, provides a platform for self-clearing of fixed income securities for the group globally, grows its institutional client footprint, and expands its structuring and advisory capabilities for asset originators in the real estate and specialty finance markets. The combined platform will also have strong capabilities in corporate debt and securities finance across the US and emerging markets. The acquisition creates a comprehensive suite of fixed income and debt products and services that will drive deeper and more valuable relationships across its respective client bases.

Ana Botín, Santander Group executive chairman, said: “This acquisition is consistent with our customer focused strategy and our commitment to profitable growth in the USA. It complements our product offerings and capabilities, allowing us to strengthen our relationships with our corporate and institutional clients. The Amherst Pierpont team bring a successful track record and experience in delivering value for their clients. We look forward to incorporating their many strengths into our very successful and growing CIB organization.”

Joe Walsh, Amherst Pierpont chief executive officer, said: “Santander Group is one of the world’s most respected financial institutions and an ideal partner for our growing franchise. With Santander’s global reach we will be able to significantly expand our product offering, grow our client base and increase the level of service we can provide to our clients. We are pleased to achieve this important milestone for our platform and look forward to working with the Santander CIB team to deliver the full potential of this combination.”

Amherst Pierpont has generated attractive returns, with an average return on equity (RoE) of c.15% since 2016. In 2020 it generated a RoE of 28% and an estimated return on risk weighted assets of 3%.

The acquisition of Amherst Pierpont is expected to be c.1% accretive to group earnings per share and generate a return on invested capital of c.11% by year 3 (post-synergies), with a -9 basis point impact on group capital at closing. As of 31 March 2021, the group’s CET1 capital ratio was above its target range of 11-12%.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and WilmerHale served as legal advisors to Santander in connection with the transaction. Barclays served as financial advisor to Amherst Pierpont, and Shearman & Sterling as legal advisor.

The EIB is providing two guarantees of €500 million each to support companies affected by the COVID-19 crisis: one for Spanish businesses and the other for companies located in Austria, France, Germany and Italy.

Santander is making an additional €1 billion available to Spanish and European companies.

The operation is being carried out under the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF).

Madrid, 21 June 2021 – PRESS RELEASE

Today, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed two agreements with Santander under the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), approved as part of the €540 billion package of measures with which the European Union is responding to the economic impact of COVID-19.

The EIB will provide Santander with two guarantees of up to €500 million each to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mid-caps and large companies affected by the pandemic. The two guarantee lines, totalling €1 billion, intend to inject liquidity into companies by enabling early payments to suppliers, normally SMEs. Santander will provide an additional €1 billion, meaning that a total of €2 billion in funding will be made available to businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis. 

Thanks to these agreements, SMEs, mid-caps and large companies will benefit from greater liquidity and will be able to protect jobs, with a positive impact on the entire supply chain. Santander, a leading trade finance bank, has been a pioneer in promoting financial support for companies in the form of advance payments to suppliers.

One of these €500 million guarantees will target businesses in Spain, while the other (of the same amount) will benefit companies located in other EU countries such as Austria, France, Germany and Italy. Moreover, these revolving credit lines will enable Santander to multiply the amount of the guarantee through short-term discounting.

The agreements involve a guarantee scheme that will support a programme to finance the supply chain of large and medium-sized enterprises, facilitating access to finance for the final beneficiaries – SMEs and mid-caps – through reverse factoring (“confirming”). Specifically, Santander will make advance payment to suppliers of the invoices they issue to their corporate customers.

The EIB support will enable SMEs and large enterprises to achieve significant economic benefits. SMEs will receive prompt payment for the goods and services they provide without having to use their own credit lines and will have more liquidity for investment, while larger companies will avoid payment delays and the resulting interest payments by enabling their suppliers to obtain advance payment of their invoices via Santander. The EGF will protect Santander against 50% of the risk of non-payment by client companies.

José M. Linares, Senior Executive Vice President Banco Santander and head of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, said: “The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has once again highlighted the key role played by financial institutions in providing liquidity to small and medium-sized enterprises and large multinationals to enable them to maintain the flow of funds into their supply chains and cushion the impact of this crisis. Thanks to its position as a European leader in supplier payment programmes, Santander worked with the EIB team to structure this innovative solution within the framework of the new Pan-European Guarantee Fund. Santander’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper, and we are delighted to work together with the EIB on a scheme that helps to optimise European companies’ working capital and will increase our capacity to support trade flows of companies affected by the pandemic.”

EIB Vice-President, Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who oversees the EU bank's operations in Spain, said: “We are proud to be able to support companies of different sizes both in Spain and in other European countries thanks to the Santander network. The economic impact of the current health crisis has highlighted the need to optimise the working capital of companies struggling to pay their suppliers and, therefore, stay in business. Agreements like this are essential to solving the liquidity problem and to reducing the volume of advance payment requests, thus boosting productivity and safeguarding jobs in Spain and Europe.”

Background information:

Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful presence in 10 core markets in the Europe, North America and South America regions, and is one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. Its purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising over €120 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2025, as well as financially empowering more than 10 million people over the same period. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, Banco Santander had €1.1 trillion in total funds, 149 million customers, of which 23.4 million are loyal and 44.2 million are digital, 10,800 branches and 190,000 employees.

Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) is Santander’s global division that supports corporate and institutional clients, offering tailored services and value-added wholesale products suited to their complexity and sophistication, as well as to responsible banking standards that help our communities prosper. 

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy objectives.

The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Spain and other EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly €25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-caps. The EGF is part of the European Union’s recovery package aiming to provide a total of €540 billion to boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.