Banco Santander Brasil is a subsidiary of Banco Santander in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, its largest division in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

 and one of the world's most important, accounting for 25% of the total profit of the group. The bank was founded in 1982 in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, where its headquarters are located.

Santander is the fifth largest commercial bank in Brazil by assets, after Banco do Brasil

Banco do Brasil

Banco do Brasil S.A. is the largest Brazilian and Latin American bank by assets, and the third by market value. The bank, headquartered in Brasília, was founded in 1808 and is the oldest active bank in Brazil — and one of the oldest financial institutions in the world.Banco do Brasil is controlled...

, Itaú Unibanco, Bradesco and Caixa Econômica Federal

Caixa Econômica Federal

Caixa Econômica Federal , also referred to as Caixa or CEF, is a Brazilian bank. It is the largest government-owned financial institution in Latin America. It is the largest bank in Brazil and in Latin America by assets....

. With more than 9 million customers, it operates in all segments of financial markets, with a network of 3696 branches and service centers and 18,312 ATMs

In 1997, Santander purchased Banco Geral do Comério S.A., initiating the wave of acquisitions through which it earned a position among the largest financial groups in Brazil. In 1998, it acquired Banco Noroeste S.A.. In January 2000, the Southern Financial conglomerate (Banco Meridional and Banco Bozano, Simonsen) joined the group. In November of the same year, Santander made its largest acquisition yet, taking control over Banespa

Banco Banespa

Banco Banespa was Brazilian regional bank, founded in 1909 by the state government of São Paulo and privatized in November of 2000 by the government of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso and sold to Spanish bank Santander....

, previously owned by Brazil's wealthiest state, São Paulo

São Paulo (state)

São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

.

After the Banespa acquisition, the financial conglomerate Santander Banespa was formed. While a strong franchise, Santander's position was still heavily concentrated in the Southeast region

Southeast Region, Brazil

The Southeast Region of Brazil is composed by the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais are three richest states of Brazil,...

 of Brazil.

In 2007, Banco Santander participated along with Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

 and Fortis

Fortis (finance)

Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...

 in the acquisition of the Dutch financial conglomerate ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

. Santander took over ABN AMRO's Brazilian assets, mainly formed by the latter's acquisition of Banco Real

Banco Real

Banco Real was a Brazilian bank, owned by Spain's Banco Santander. ABN AMRO had owned the bank but in October 2007, a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland that also included Banco Santander and Belgium's Fortis, acquired ABN AMRO and proceeded to dismember it...

, and developed a truly national platform, dropping the Banespa name and adopting the Santander Brasil franchise.

IPO

On October 7, 2009 the bank went public in the São Paulo Stock Exchange, also issuing ADRs

American Depositary Receipt

An American depositary receipt is a negotiable security that represents the underlying securities of a non-U.S. company that trades in the US financial markets...

 in the NYSE. In Brazil, the IPO raised R$ 14.1 Billion, or U.S. $ 8.9 Billion, the largest stock offering made in the BM&F Bovespa that year.