MADRID (Reuters) - Santander (BME:SAN) may consider looking into acquiring a mortgage portfolio from Metro if the British bank decides to put it up for sale, the Spanish bank's Chief Executive Officer Hector Grisi said on Wednesday.
Metro, seeking to bolster its finances after a string of setbacks, earlier this month announced a 325 million pound capital raise and 600 million pound debt refinancing.
The bank also said it was in discussions regarding the sale of up to 3 billion pounds ($3.64 billion)of residential mortgages.
"We have to review it, we have to analyse it and then we will make a decision whether we go ahead or not, but it is always important to analyse it," Grisi said when asked at a news briefing about the bank's potential interest in the portfolio.
"Today the truth is that I don't know whether Metro will end up doing something or not, whether it will sell a portfolio or not."
($1 = 0.8249 pounds)