PHILADELPHIA, May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced
today that both Sovereign and Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A.
("Santander") have received all required regulatory approvals necessary to
complete Santander's previously announced investment in Sovereign and
Sovereign's acquisition of Independence Community Bank Corp.
("Independence"). Sovereign said the $2.4 billion common equity placement
to Santander, at $27.00 per share, will take place on May 31, 2006. After
the offering, Santander will own 19.8% of Sovereign's common shares
outstanding. Effective as of June 1, 2006, Sovereign will acquire
Independence by purchasing all outstanding common shares of Independence
for $42.00 per share in cash.
In addition, Sovereign announced today that it has elected to postpone
the record and distribution dates of the 5% stock dividend it previously
announced on March 15, 2006. The stock dividend will now be distributed on
July 6, 2006 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2006. Postponing the
record date from June 1, 2006 allows for any unforeseen delay in the
closing of the pending transactions and ensures Santander will be eligible
to receive the agreed upon 5% stock dividend.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent
company of Sovereign Bank, a pro forma $83 billion financial institution
with nearly 800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs and
approximately 12,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast
United States after giving effect to the Independence acquisition and
recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be
placed in CVS/pharmacy locations. Sovereign offers a broad array of
financial services and products including retail banking, business and
corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and
insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United
States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Note: "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release regarding Sovereign
Bancorp's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking
statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual future events to differ
from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see
"Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the most recently ended fiscal year.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL: Mark McCollom, +1-610-208-6426, or
mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel, +1-610-208-6112, or
sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA: Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159,
or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of Sovereign Bancorp
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