MADRID July 19 (Reuters) - Spain's biggest bank, Santander, is in talks to sell its insurance business for up to 4 billion euros, marking the second unit it has put on the block after a bid for British bank Alliance and Leicester, Spanish media reported on Saturday.
Santander, the euro zone's largest bank by market capitalization, has approached insurance firms such as France's AXA, Germany's Allianz, the UK's Aviva and Italy's Generali over a possible sale, newspapers such as El Pais and ABC reported.
Word of the sale follows reports on Friday that Santander was considering selling its asset management unit for up to 3 billion euros ($4.77 billion).
Santander said on Monday it was buying Alliance & Leicester for 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) to provide critical mass to its existing UK bank, Abbey.
The asset sales increase Santander's liquidity and give it greater firepower to buy firms whose values have tumbled since money market turmoil began last summer, El Pais reported.
A Santander spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Santander's insurance firm is the third largest in Spain, after Mapfre and Grupo AXA, based on premiums of 3.08 billion euros and a market share of 5.7 percent, El Pais said.
Analysts last week said Santander had got A&L for a knock-down price.
They said the market might be less enthusiastic about further buys during ongoing market turbulence and rapidly worsening economic conditions in Spain.
($1=.6310 Euro)
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Keywords: SANTANDER INSURANCE/SALE TFN.newsdesk@thomson.com ro COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
Santander, the euro zone's largest bank by market capitalization, has approached insurance firms such as France's AXA, Germany's Allianz, the UK's Aviva and Italy's Generali over a possible sale, newspapers such as El Pais and ABC reported.
Word of the sale follows reports on Friday that Santander was considering selling its asset management unit for up to 3 billion euros ($4.77 billion).
Santander said on Monday it was buying Alliance & Leicester for 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) to provide critical mass to its existing UK bank, Abbey.
The asset sales increase Santander's liquidity and give it greater firepower to buy firms whose values have tumbled since money market turmoil began last summer, El Pais reported.
A Santander spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Santander's insurance firm is the third largest in Spain, after Mapfre and Grupo AXA, based on premiums of 3.08 billion euros and a market share of 5.7 percent, El Pais said.
Analysts last week said Santander had got A&L for a knock-down price.
They said the market might be less enthusiastic about further buys during ongoing market turbulence and rapidly worsening economic conditions in Spain.
($1=.6310 Euro)
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Keywords: SANTANDER INSURANCE/SALE TFN.newsdesk@thomson.com ro COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.