Santander Consumer Finance has reshaped its agreement with Stellantis to finance the vehicles of all the automaker’s brands in seven European countries: Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
The successful partnership, which was established in 2014 to finance Peugeot, Citroën and DS vehicles, has now been enhanced. Within the aforementioned countries, Santander Consumer Finance and Stellantis will act jointly as captive finance provider in the credit, finance lease and operational lease for private customers, the latter on a non-exclusive basis, for all the brands of the automaker: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, RAM and Vauxhall. As part of the transaction, Santander Consumer Finance will sell its stakes in PSA Bank Deutschland GmbH, including its Austrian branch, and PSA Finance UK Ltd to BNP Paribas Personal Finance.
With the reshaped agreement, Santander Consumer Finance will consolidate its position as Stellantis’ main financing partner in terms of the value of the outstanding portfolio, aiming to reach €40 billion from the Stellantis’ brands by 2026, an increase of 33%. Santander Consumer Finance will also strengthen its leading position in the European auto finance market by adding a significant number of auto brands to its existing captive finance business.
This transaction is subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals in several countries and is expected to close during the first half of 2023.
Uría Menéndez advised SCF with a team led by M&A-Private Equity partner Francisco San Miguel, together with M&A-Private Equity partner Carolina Albuerne, Competition partner Antonio Guerra, managing partner/M&A partner Salvador Sánchez-Terán, M&A partner Antonio Herrera and senior associate Daniel Cerruti.
