Webster in its $12.3 billion acquisition by Santander

On February 3, 2026, Webster Financial (NYSE: WBS) announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN, Madrid: SAN) will acquire Webster in the largest regional bank acquisition by value in years, and one of the largest cross-border acquisitions of a U.S. bank ever.  The cash-and-stock transaction is valued at $12.3 billion based on Santander’s closing trading price on the date of announcement, comprised of approximately 65% cash and 35% Santander American Depositary Shares per share.

Webster has more than $80 billion in total assets; and Santander is a $2 trillion asset, Global Systemically Important Bank with 178 million customers in 25 countries.  Santander has a $194 billion market capitalization and is the 4th largest bank in Europe by asset size. The transaction will significantly strengthen Santander’s U.S. business, creating a top-ten retail and commercial bank in the U.S. by assets and top-five deposit franchise across key states in the Northeast.

The current Webster CEO, John Ciulla, will be the CEO of the combined Santander U.S. bank, and the current Webster President and COO, Luis Massiani, will be COO of both the U.S. holding company and the combined U.S. bank.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor to Webster.