Banco Santander buying rest of Sovereign for $1.9B

NEW YORK (AP) - October 13, 2008 The Spanish bank will pay $1.9 billion for the remaining 75.65 percent of Sovereign, a Philadelphia-based thrift, that it doesn't already own.

The deal is worth about $3.81 per share in stock, a premium of 3.5 percent to the stock's closing price Monday.

Sovereign Bancorp, pummeled by rising mortgage delinquencies, has seen its stock lose nearly two-thirds of its value in the year to date.