Santander y El Corte Inglés reordenan su financiera

Santander and El Corte Inglés are restructuring their financial entity in Portugal. The banking giant holds a 51% stake in the company, while the retail giant controls the remaining 49%. The two entities have decided to integrate the financial firm into El Corte Inglés in Portugal. This move is part of a larger internal reorganization to streamline their operational structure.

The entity has filed the operation as a project for a cross-border intra-European merger with the Spanish bank. Following the completion of the operation, El Corte Inglés will operate as a subsidiary of Santander in Portugal. El Corte Inglés is the largest consumer finance company in Spain, posting a profit of 55 million euros last year, a 9% increase from the previous year's 50.4 million.

The financial institution attracts a substantial portion of Spain's consumer finance activity, with its card holding 11.7 million units across the country. Santander brings its expertise and extensive client acquisition machinery to the partnership, including its credit recovery processes. Santander Consumer, the bank's subsidiary, previously merged with Openbank in May, operating under the Openbank brand. This new entity will be used by Santander to channel its consumer finance business in Europe gradually.

The alliance between El Corte Inglés and Santander began in 2013, with the Spanish bank paying 140 million euros to the retail chain for control of the financial firm. El Corte Inglés had paid another 140 million euros in dividends to the retail group before sealing the deal. Over its ten years of operation, the two partners have paid a total of 627 million euros in dividends, excluding the dividend taken from reserves.