PHILADELPHIA, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank, announced
today that it has completed its acquisition of Independence Community Bank
Corp. ("Independence") of Brooklyn, New York and the $2.4 billion placement
of common equity with Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. ("Santander")
of Madrid, Spain, the 10th largest bank in the world as ranked by market
capitalization.
On May 31, 2006, Sovereign completed its equity offering of $2.4
billion to Santander by issuing 88,705,123 shares at $27.00 per share,
representing a 21% premium over Wednesday's closing price. This makes
Santander Sovereign's largest shareholder.
Sovereign closed on its acquisition of Independence effective June 1,
2006 for $42 per share in cash, representing an aggregate transaction value
of $3.6 billion. Sovereign funded this acquisition using the proceeds from
the $2.4 billion equity offering to Santander, net proceeds from recent
issuances of perpetual and trust preferred securities and cash on hand.
Sovereign expects to issue additional trust preferred or similar securities
later this month.
The Independence acquisition provides Sovereign the No. 9 deposit
market share in the very attractive Metro New York Market. Independence has
$19.0 billion in assets and is a leading community bank and multifamily
lender in the Metro New York area. The combined company, with over $80
billion in assets, solidifies Sovereign's position among the top 10 banks
in the northeastern United States and the top 20 banks in the entire
country.
"These are milestones in Sovereign's history and an exciting time for
all of us. The acquisition of Independence allows us to expand our
Northeastern footprint and to have a significant presence in the most
dynamic banking market in the United States as we seek to grow our core
businesses and product lines and to execute our strategy to attract more
than our share of the Hispanic markets. Our partnership with Santander will
enhance our organization for years to come. Santander is one of the world's
leading and most respected banks and will provide Sovereign with enhanced
capital flexibility and leverage from Santander's international presence.
Santander has a notable history of profitable investments in foreign and
U.S. companies similar to the commitment it has made in Sovereign.
Santander's global strength and Sovereign's local expertise in the
northeast United States are what makes this partnership so valuable as we
look forward to building an even better bank for our customers,
shareholders, team members and the communities we serve," commented Jay S.
Sidhu, Sovereign's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
In addition, Sovereign announced that Independence has designated and
Sovereign has elected Maria Fiorini Ramirez, an internationally recognized
economist and a former Independence director to its Board effective as of
Sovereign's closing with Independence. Also, as previously disclosed,
Emilio Botin, Chairman of Santander, and Juan Rodriguez Inciarte, Executive
Vice President of Santander, have been appointed and elected as Santander's
representatives to Sovereign's Board effective as of Sovereign's closing
with Santander.
Sovereign also announced the continuation and enhancement of
Independence's longstanding relationship with and investment in Meridian
Capital Group, LLC. Meridian is the third largest commercial real estate
broker in the United States and is recognized as a leader in multi-family
lending.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent
company of Sovereign Bank, an $83 billion financial institution with nearly
800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs after giving effect to the
recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be
placed in CVS/pharmacy locations and approximately 12,000 team members with
principal markets in the Northeast United States. 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.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com/
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL CONTACTS: Mark McCollom,
+1-610-208-6426 or mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel,
+1-610-208-6112 or sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA CONTACT:
Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159 or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of
Sovereign Bancorp
|
