MADRID (Reuters) - Santander (BME:SAN) said on Friday it would launch a tender offer for the 4% of shares in its Mexican unit it doesn't own, a step prior to its delisting.
The euro zone's second-biggest bank by market value intends to carry out the offer at the latest during the first quarter of next year, Santander said in a regulatory filing.
The shares would be worth about $290 million, as Santander Mexico's market value was 146 billion Mexican pesos ($7.28 billion) on Thursday, according to data from Refinitiv.
Over the past few years, Santander has expanded in emerging economies in search of faster growth than in core markets in Europe, where ultra low interest rates had made the banking business less profitable.
($1 = 20.0478 Mexican pesos)