Hispamer, the consumer lending arm of Banco Santander, is aiming to return to the European securitization market next year after a one-year hiatus. Eduardo San Martin, managing director of treasury and finance in Madrid, says the lender is looking at securitizing auto loans made to consumers in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Hispamer is still in the process of deciding how the deal will be structured and San Martin could not say how large it will be. The deal should be priced in the first half.
San Martin says Santander will likely receive the nod to structure and underwrite the deal unless it proves overly complicated, in which case outside help will be sought. Hispamer has a E20 billion pan-European loan book, concentrated mainly in auto loans.
Last year, Hispamer priced its first auto loan deal through J.P. Morgan Securities. That was a E900 million deal backed by auto loans extended to Spanish borrowers.
