Acquisition

Banco Santander Central Hispano SA
9 March 2000

BANCO SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO TO BUY 75% OF PATAGON.COM, LATIN AMERICA'S
LEADING FINANCIAL SERVICES PORTAL

* The transaction is the first in the context of a new global strategy for      
 telcoms/Internet business
* Patagon.com's management team will run the financial portal
* Strategy for developing a European portal will be announced shortly

Madrid, March 9, 2000 - Banco Santander Central Hispano will acquire control of
Patagon.com, the leading Latin American financial portal, in the first step of a
new global strategy for telecommunications and Internet business that envisages
the participation of the Group's technological partners. 

The Bank is acquiring the shareholdings of all the financial investors in
Patagon.com, which include Chase Capital Partners, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs,
while retaining all employee share stakes. 

Patagon.com, based in Miami, is the leading Internet financial portal in Latin
America and has a significant presence in the United States.  It has individual
portals for the principal Latin American markets - Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela,
Chile and Argentina, offering financial supermarket services, market
information, transactions in securities, and a chat group with 40,000 members. 
Patagon.com currently generates more than 15 million page hits per month. 

Banco Santander Central Hispano, which values Patagon.com at US$705 million,
will acquire 75% of the company with the remaining 25% held by the founding
group, led by Wenceslao Casares and Daniel Canel. Casares, presently chairman
and CEO of Patagon.com, together with the management team led by Daniel Canel,
and the other co-founders, Gabriel Politzer and Guillermo Kirchner, will manage
the financial portol. 

As a result of this acquisition, Banco Santander Central Hispano, the leading
banking franchise in Latin America with a major presence in 12 countries and
more than 24 million customers worldwide, incorporates one of the world's most
successful and best-managed Internet companies, and positions itself to dominate
in global on-line financial services. 

The agreement is subject to due diligence and the respective regulatory
authorizations.