By Carolina Mandl
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian payments company Getnet Brasil, controlled by Spain's Banco Santander SA (NYSE:SAN), made its trading debut on the Sao Paulo stock exchange on Monday with a 7.3 billion reais ($1.32 billion) market value.
Santander spun off and listed Getnet Brasil, previously controlled by Banco Santander (MC:SAN) Brasil SA, in a bid to unlock additional value for its shareholders. Getnet is now part of Santander's global payments company PagoNxt.
Brazil's third-biggest card processor, Getnet reached a valuation close to the country's leading card processor, Cielo SA (OTC:CIOXY), which has a market capitalization of 7.1 billion reais.
But its valuation lags those of more recent entrants StoneCo Ltd and PagSeguro Digital Ltd, which both trade in the United States.
The Brazilian lender acquired Getnet in 2014 to offer credit and debit card payments services to merchants. With a market share of 16% in Brazil, it posted revenues of 1.3 billion reais in the first half of the year and a net income of 188 million. reais.
Currently Getnet operates in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
($1 = 5.5123 reais)