Santander of Spain, the biggest bank in the eurozone, on Monday agreed to buy the rest of Sovereign Bancorp of the US for a tenth of the price agreed when it took a minority stake three years ago.

The all-stock deal, at an exchange ratio of one Santander share for 3.4 shares in Sovereign and valuing the US bank at about $2.4bn – is in line with Santander’s view that it can take advantage of a ”winner takes all” market in the current global financial crisis. The Spanish bank already holds 24.35 per cent in Sovereign and was approached by Sovereign’s independent directors with an request for Santander to buy the rest.