Santander Plans Mexico Unit’s IPO for October, Botin Says

Banco Santander SA (SAN) Chairman Emilio Botin said the Spanish bank seeks to hold an initial public offering of its Mexican unit on Oct. 4 to take advantage of growth in Latin America’s second-largest economy.

“Mexico has some extremely good years ahead of it -- extremely good,” Botin said during an event today in Boadilla del Monte, Spain, according to an e-mailed transcript of his remarks. “The economy is doing well and we see the country with still a lot of untapped banking needs.”

The bank, Mexico’s fourth largest by outstanding loans, has seen widespread investor interest in the sale, Botin said. The offering will depend on market conditions, he said.

“We are giving enormous importance to listing in Mexico, we’re being called to do so from all sides,” he said. “I have never received more letters from international banks that want to participate in this operation.”

International market volatility from Europe’s debt crisis has discouraged public share offerings in Mexico, Bolsa Mexicana de Valores SAB Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Luis Tellez said on May 31. Bolsa Mexicana operates the nation’s stock exchange.

Mexico’s last IPO was Alpek SAB, the nation’s largest petrochemical company, on April 25.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Roeder in Mexico City at jroeder@bloomberg.net; Jose Enrique Arrioja in Mexico City at jarrioja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net