Chavez offers Santander $1.2b for bank

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:29:41 GMT

 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is prepared to offer Banco Santander $1.2 billion for its local unit Banco de Venezuela.

Spanish newspapers quoted the Venezuelan press as saying Venezuela's offer could reach $1.2 billion, $600 million short of the Spanish bank's expectations.

Last Thursday, Chavez said he would nationalize Banco de Venezuela, one of the largest banks in the nation's financial system.

Santander then said Friday that it was in talks with the Venezuelan government over the possible sale of its unit, having failed to reach an agreement with a group of interested Venezuelan private investors.

In the last two years Venezuela's government has taken over large swathes of the economy, including oil projects, telecommunications, steel, and cements plants.

Banco de Venezuela is the country's third largest bank in terms of deposits and the fourth measured by its credit portfolio.

Analysts have valued the bank at between $1.6 and 1.8 billion.

SG/RE