Firm Leads Banco Santander’s Auto Lending Unit in $2.5B Deal to Go Private

August 24, 2021 – Hughes Hubbard is acting as legal counsel to Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (SC) in its pending sale to parent company and majority shareholder Santander Holdings USA Inc. (SHUSA) that will take the Dallas-based auto lending and consumer finance company private.

On Aug. 24, SC announced an agreement for SHUSA, the U.S. business unit of Spanish bank and HHR client Banco Santander, S.A., to acquire SC’s remaining shares that it does not yet own for approximately $2.5 billion at an equity valuation of $12.7 billion. 

Independent investment bank Piper Sandler Companies is serving as financial advisor for the transaction, which was unanimously approved by SC’s board of directors and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The offer of $41.50 per share represents a premium of approximately 14 percent to the $36.43 closing price of SC’s common stock on July 1, 2021.

Established in 1995, Santander Consumer USA is focused on vehicle finance and third-party servicing. The company manages accounts for more than 3 million customers across all credit profiles. 

The deal announcement made headlines in Reuters, The Deal, Dow Jones Newswires and other media outlets.

Ken Lefkowitz, Gary Simon and Alex Rahn lead the HHR team, which also includes Charlie Wachsstock, Andy Braiterman, Benjamin Britz, Michael DeBernardis, Shahzeb Lari, Scott Naturman, Michael Traube, Justin Cohen, Tyler Grove, Jiayin Liao, Kristin Millay and Mariana Veiga.

UPDATE: This deal closed on January 31, 2022.