Banco Santander S.A. Announces Completion of Tender Offer for Shares of Santander BanCorp

Banco Santander S.A. STD today announced the completion of the tender offer by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Administracion de Bancos Latinoamericanos Santander, S.L. ("ABLASA"), for all outstanding shares of common stock of Santander BanCorp (SBP) not owned by ABLASA at US$12.69 per share. As previously announced, the offer expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on July 22, 2010. Based on information provided by BNY Mellon Shareowner Services, the depositary for the tender offer, as of the close of business on the expiration date of the tender offer, 3,660,936 Santander BanCorp shares were validly tendered (including 93,058 shares tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery) and not withdrawn. The tendered shares represent approximately 7.8% of Santander BanCorp's outstanding shares of common stock. Together with the 90.6% of the outstanding shares already held by ABLASA, ABLASA now holds a total of approximately 45,902,274 shares or 98.4% of the 46,639,104 Santander BanCorp shares outstanding. All Santander BanCorp shares that were validly tendered and not withdrawn immediately prior to the expiration of the tender offer have been accepted by ABLASA for payment. ABLASA will purchase and pay for all such shares promptly.