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, previously owned by Brazil's wealthiest state,
São Paulo. 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 of Brazil. In 2007,
Banco Santander participated along with
Royal Bank of Scotland and
Fortis in the acquisition of the Dutch financial conglomerate
ABN AMRO. Santander took over ABN AMRO's Brazilian assets, mainly formed by the latter's acquisition of
Banco Real, and developed a truly national platform, dropping the Banespa name and adopting the Santander Brasil franchise. On October 7, 2009 the bank went public in the
São Paulo Stock Exchange, also issuing
ADRs in the
NYSE. In Brazil, the IPO raised R$14.1 billion, or US$8.9 billion, the largest stock offering made in the
BM&F Bovespa that year. ==References==