Banco Santander is going public with Santander Consumer, its car loan and refinance branch in the United States, the company has doubled its valuation, which doubled in the past three years to somewhere between 7.6 and 8.3 billion euros. The IPO could happen sometime in the next several months. If it does, then Santander and CEO Emilio Botín will have succeeded in their strategy to increase the independence of its major business divisions. The strategy, which the bank put into effect last year in Mexico, will help it avoid harmful contagions.
Going public on the American stock market, Santander will get the funds it needs to recapitalize before the next EU stress test. Most important, it will meet liquidity requirements outlined by the investment funds that bought 35% of Santander in 2011 in order to keep it afloat.
