News that Santander pulled out of the competition to acquire Banamex was welcomed by stock market investors.
The bank’s shares listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange ( BMV ) rose 10.91% this Friday, to settle at 21.65 pesos.
This is the best price for the company’s shares since at least March 2, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
Earlier, Santander announced that it had withdrawn from buying Banamex’s assets after a non-binding offer was rejected.
“Due to the interest in Banco Santander’s participation in the process that Citigroup is carrying out, in relation to the potential sale of certain businesses of its operations in Mexico, Santander confirms that it presented a non-binding offer and that, after having been submitted for Citigroup’s consideration, the Bank has been informed that it will not continue in the following stages of the process,” the company said in a statement.
The Spanish bank joins Ricardo Salinas Pliego in the list of interested parties who intended to keep Banamex’s assets, but who fell by the wayside.
On Tuesday, January 11, when Citigroup announced its intention to sell Banamex assets, Santander shares were worth 24.71 pesos.
“Banamex represents an attractive opportunity and we must see if it is the best way to increase our exposure in the Mexican market. We have said that we are interested but we cannot comment on the details of the transaction, given the confidentiality agreement that we have signed with Citi” , said Héctor Chávez, director of Investor Relations at Santander Mexico at the end of last April.
