NEW YORK (Reuters) - M&T Bank Corp's negotiations to buy Sovereign Bank, a unit of Banco Santander , have stalled over disagreements as to who would control the combined entity, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The story, which cites unnamed people familiar with the situation, said that as of Thursday talks for a deal were "dead."
The report said that while M&T's Chief Executive Robert Wilmers wanted his team to run operations of the combined bank, Santander officials were unwilling to guarantee this.
Recently reported efforts to reach a compromise, such as putting Sovereign under Wilmers' control in exchange for Santander getting a majority stake in the combined entity, have "run into trouble," according to the story.
The Journal also cited unnamed sources as saying that it was not clear if regulatory officials would approve the merger.
Representatives from M&T and Santander were not immediately available for comment.
