Santander completes acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation

Banco Santander announced a new €1.825 billion share buyback program, targeting 1% of its capital. The plan, approved by the ECB and Bank of Spain, will run for 98 trading sessions, potentially until January 8, 2027. This is part of a broader strategy to return €10 billion to shareholders by 2026. The buyback represents 25% of the bank's first-half profit of €8.973 billion, up 31% year-on-year.

Santander Bank has finalized its acquisition of Webster Financial Corp., creating a combined entity with $327B in assets and $185B in loans. The deal, completed after regulatory approvals, will expand Santander's retail and commercial services. According to Santander US CEO Christiana Riley, the merger will serve nearly 8M customers in the U.S.

JPMorgan (JPM) and Santander are leading a $14B-$15B financing effort for Argentina LNG, a $24B project to export Argentina's shale gas. Partners include YPF, Eni, and XRG, with a final investment decision expected in late November. The project exceeds Argentina's $20B IMF agreement.

Santander Holdings USA completed its acquisition of Webster Financial Corporation, creating a larger U.S. retail and commercial bank with $327 billion in assets. The deal, announced in 2026, was finalized after regulatory approvals. The combined entity aims to serve 8 million customers with enhanced services and a 18% return on tangible equity by 2028.

Charter and Cox completed a $34.5bn merger, creating Spectrum, a cable company with 37 million customers. The European Commission approved Telefónica's AI infrastructure joint venture. Viettel won spectrum licenses for a new mobile operator in the Dominican Republic. ION Network deployed Ciena's technology for a new cable system. Turkcell joined six EU R&D projects on 6G and AI.

Banco Santander issued 329.8 million new shares following its acquisition of Webster Financial. The bank applied for these shares to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, with trading expected to begin by 26 August 2026. As of 20 August, Banco Santander's total voting rights stand at 14.5 billion shares, excluding treasury shares.