Santander México To Acquire Mexican Consumer Loan Portfolio From Scotiabank

(RTTNews) - Grupo Financiero Santander México, S.A.B. de C.V. (BSMX) or Santander México, agreed Tuesday to acquire a consumer loan portfolio of about 4.10 billion pesos or $300 million, from the Mexican unit of Canada's Bank Of Nova Scotia (BNS, BNS.TO) or Scotiabank.

Santander México is the Mexican subsidiary of Spanish commercial bank Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN, BNC.L).

"This portfolio further enhances our current client base, as approximately 97% of the clients are in the attractive middle- to high-income segments. We also view this as an excellent opportunity to cross-sell our wide range of products to further drive business growth, as nearly 90% of the portfolio's more than 47,000 clients represent new business opportunities for Santander Mexico," Santander México's Executive President and CEO Marcos Martínez said in a statement.

The deal will further boost Banco Santander Mexico's core portfolio and market share in the personal loans segment by about 300 bps, while also maintaining its credit quality standards.

The move is in line with Santander México's strategy of focusing on highly profitable products.

The deal is expected to close over the next three months, and is subject to completion of documentation, approval from the Mexican Federal Competition Commission and other customary closing conditions.

Additionally, Banco Santander is looking to sell part of its stake in the Nevada solar energy project to two Canada-based pension funds, and is seeking regulatory approval from the FERC for the sale, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the report.

Banco Santander will reportedly transfer its full 26.8 percent stake in Tonopah Solar Energy LLC, into a newly formed joint-venture company that will hold its alternative energy assets in the U.S.

The joint-venture company will be equally owned by Banco Santander, Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, with each holding a third of the company.

The joint-venture company would reportedly also hold Santander's renewable solar and wind power assets in California and Nebraska.

The deal will help Banco Santander to reduce its risk in the project, while the Canadian pension funds will gain access to the $1 billion Crescent Dunes solar-energy project in Nye County, Nevada.

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is a 110 megawatt (MW) solar thermal power project under construction near Tonopah, about 190 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It is being developed by SolarReserve through its subsidiary, Tonopah Solar Energy.

SAN closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $8.86. up $0.11 or 1.26% on a volume of 13.86 million shares and BNS closed at $62.34. up $0.18 or 0.29% on a volume of 0.54 million shares.