Erste Group acquires 49 percent controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska, Poland’s third-largest bank

Erste Group and Banco Santander announced that they have entered into an agreement for Erste Group to acquire a 49 percent stake in Santander Bank Polska for approximately 6.8 billion euros and a 50 percent stake in Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. (Santander TFI) for approximately 0.2 billion euros cash consideration from Santander Group. Together, this amounts to a total cash consideration of 7.0 billion euros.

Santander Bank Polska is the third-largest bank in Poland by assets, with market share >8 percent (based on transaction perimeter as of December 2024), and is also one of the most profitable in the country. It offers a full suite of commercial banking products to retail, SME and corporate clients.

Santander TFI is an asset management company with 6 billion euros in assets under management as of December 2024.

Peter Bosek, Erste Group CEO, commented: “With the proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska we are fulfilling a long-standing strategic goal: as the leading lender in Central and Eastern Europe we continue to broaden our presence in the region and expand into one of Europe’s most dynamic and profitable banking markets. Erste Group was founded with a clear purpose: to foster prosperity and financial health. Today’s announcement, including the new strategic cooperation we have inked with Santander Group to leverage our respective strengths for our clients across our key geographies, paves the way for us to help millions more people to prosper.”

Stefan Dörfler, Erste Group CFO, commented: “The acquisition of a controlling share in Santander Bank Polska will enable us to generate profitable and value-creating growth. In doing so, we are deploying our capital effectively in order to generate favourable returns for our investors. The strength of our capital position means that we are able to fund this acquisition entirely from Erste Group’s internal resources.”

By adding Santander Bank Polska to its footprint, Erste Group would increase its total client base by 36 percent, to 23 million customers, and its CEE client base by 50 percent allowing it to reach 18 million customers outside Austria.