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08

Santander’s Botin Takes on Crippled Lender in Her Riskiest Bet

By Tony Seruga

Purchase of Popular signals bolder approach by chairman
Banks had been called in to look Popular over weeks ago

As dawn broke in Madrid on Wednesday, Ana Botin embarked on the boldest move of her almost three-year tenure as chairman of Banco Santander SA, Spain’s largest bank.

Botin, better known for accumulating capital and emphasizing internal growth than doing deals, took a page from her late father’s playbook. She agreed to acquire failing Banco Popular Espanol SA for the knockdown price of 1 euro, while absorbing the 37 billion euros ($42 billion) of non-performing assets that laid its rival low…

Santander’s Botin Takes on Crippled Lender in Her Riskiest Bet

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