First BankCorp has completed the acquisition of Santander BanCorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary Banco Santander Puerto Rico, also known as Banco Santander. First BankCorp is the bank holding company for First Bank Puerto Rico With that, Santander BanCorp and Banco Santander will be merged into First BankCorp.
In July, the bank was granted approval from the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Aurelio Alemán, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, commented: “Today we completed the acquisition of Banco Santander announced back in October 2019. The completion of this transaction marks a significant milestone in our journey. I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of both teams who have worked diligently on integration planning and execution throughout the operational disruption caused by the pandemic. We welcome the Banco Santander employees and customers and look forward to exceeding their expectations with an expanded branch network and service channels and enhanced technological offerings.
Banco Santander had approximately $5.5 billion in assets, $2.7 billion in total loans and $4.2 billion in deposits, as of July. The deal will strengthen First BanCorp’s position in Puerto Rico’s financial services industry. In fact, the acquisition has created a network of 73 branches and over 445 ATMs throughout Puerto Rico. This in turn will expand the market share in San Juan, Bayamon, Caguas and Guaynabo.