<\/p>\n
Webster Bank operates this branch at 244 Post Road E., in Westport, Conn. The parent company of Webster has announced an agreement to be acquired for $12.2 billion by Banco Santander.\u00a0<\/p>\n
File photo<\/p>\n
John Ciulla, CEO and chairman of Webster Financial Corp., the parent company of Webster Bank, speaks during the CBIA Economic + Outlook on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Hartford, Conn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jim Michaud\/Hearst Connecticut Media<\/p>\n
Webster Financial Corp., the holding company for Stamford<\/a>-based Webster Bank<\/a>, announced Tuesday an agreement to be acquired for $12.2 billion\u00a0by\u00a0Banco Santander, one of the largest banks in the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Webster will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Santander,\u00a0according to the terms of the companies’ definitive agreement \u2014 a deal\u00a0that will transform Santander into a \u201ctop-10 retail and commercial bank in the U.S.,\u201d by assets, company officials said. Santander will gain the largest bank headquartered in Connecticut, based on deposits, with an in-state total of about $40.4 billion as of last June.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThis acquisition is a significant step forward in strengthening our commercial banking presence and filling in our retail branch footprint and scale, particularly in Connecticut where we are committed to maintaining a broad branch presence,\u201d Christiana Riley, CEO of Santander US, said in a written statement. \u201cThe acquisition meaningfully expands our commercial franchise, resulting in a more balanced business mix and positioning us for sustainable, long-term growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Riley added: \u201cEqually important, we are bringing aboard a talented leadership team with a strong track record in building a high-quality bank, and we are excited about the value we can create together for our customers and communities. Webster\u2019s existing headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, will be a core corporate office for\u00a0Santander, alongside our corporate offices in Boston, New York, Miami and Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n After the transaction is completed,\u00a0Riley will remain Santander\u2019s country head in the U.S., and the CEO of Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA). John\u00a0Ciulla, Webster’s CEO and chairman, will become the CEO of\u00a0Santander Bank NA (SBNA), into which Webster\u2019s businesses will be integrated. Luis\u00a0Massiani, Webster\u2019s president and chief operating officer, will become the chief operating officer of\u00a0SHUSA and SBNA, lead the integration and report to Riley and Ciulla.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make CT Insider a preferred source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is an exciting combination that brings together complementary strengths and a shared commitment to excellence,\u201d Ciulla said in a written statement. \u201cAs a larger organization, we will unlock greater scale, broader capabilities and new opportunities for growth \u2014 while remaining deeply focused on the people who define our success. I look forward to joining the Santander team and enhancing our ability to support clients across our expanded footprint. As a Connecticut-based bank with deep roots in the state, we also look forward to continuing our commitment to the communities we serve in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. Until then,\u00a0Santander and Webster will continue operating as separate companies, with no changes to\u00a0customer accounts, branch access or day-to-day service at either bank, according to Santander and Webster officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an apparent coincidence, the deal between Santander and Webster has been announced almost exactly four years after Webster completed a\u00a0merger worth $10 billion<\/a>\u00a0with Pearl River, New York-based Sterling National Bank. As a result of the merger, Webster moved its headquarters from Waterbury to Stamford, while keeping its offices in Waterbury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Webster operates 95 branches across Connecticut. It has a total of more than 200 branches, when factoring in its locations in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among banks operating in Connecticut, Webster’s approximately $40.4 billion in in-state deposits last June were surpassed only by Bank of America’s total of about $40.8 billion, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Santander’s in-state deposits last June totaled about $1.9 billion, ranking 13th.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last April, Santander closed its branch in New Haven<\/a>, marking the bank’s ninth branch shutdown in Connecticut since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, there are 13 Santander branches in Connecticut \u2014 two in West Hartford, as well as one each in Avon, Bristol, East Hartford, Enfield, Glastonbury, Hartford, Newington, South Windsor, Southington, Waterbury and Wethersfield.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There is a much larger Santander presence in neighboring states. In Massachusetts, Santander has 127 locations and ranks fourth in in-state deposits. In New York state, it has 61 locations and places 23rd in in-state deposits. In Rhode Island, it has 20 locations and ranks fourth in-state deposits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Worldwide, the reach of the Spain-headquartered Santander is immense. On its website<\/a>, it states that it is one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization, with stock-exchange listings in the U.S., Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom and Poland. It operates with more than 204,000 employees, and it serves 176 million customers with more than 8,000 branches and online channels.<\/p>\n In the fourth quarter of last year, Santander produced net interest income\u00a0of about $12.8 billion. The total equated to about 20 times Webster’s fourth-quarter net interest income of approximately $633 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. has been one of the largest \u201cvalue creators\u201d for Santander, company officials said in a news release about the deal with Webster. They cited average annual profit-after-tax growth of 31% in the U.S., during the past three years, with all \u201cInvestor Day targets achieved.\u201d After the acquisition is completed,\u00a0Santander will have a combined U.S. balance sheet of approximately $327 billion in assets, $185 billion in loans and $172 billion in deposits, based on data from the end of last year, company officials added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Investors appeared optimistic about the deal, as Webster’s shares closed Tuesday at about $72, up 9% from their closing total on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Webster employees, including the bank’s contingent of about 1,800 in Connecticut, might be feeling more anxious, given that acquisitions often lead to layoffs. For instance, M&T Bank’s $8.3 billion acquisition of Bridgeport-based People’s United Bank<\/a> in 2022 resulted in several hundred job cuts in Connecticut. Today, M&T is hiring many people to support its growth\u00a0in Connecticut<\/a>, with an in-state head count of more than 2,000,\u00a0according to company officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Spokespersons for Santander and Webster did not immediately respond Tuesday to inquiries about whether the acquisition might result in layoffs at Webster. <\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Webster Bank operates this branch at 244 Post Road E., in Westport, Conn. The parent company of Webster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[902,144,903,904],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-banco-santander","tag-all-daily-sites","tag-banco-santander","tag-ct-insider","tag-stamford-advocate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n