Madrid - Santander, Spain's leading bank, plans to take advantage of the ongoing financial crisis to take control of Sovereign Bancorp, which has suffered recent losses, according to a media report.

Negotiations for the takeover are still underway, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, quoting Santander.

According to the report, Santander wants to offer about 1.8 billion euros (2.5 billion dollars) for Sovereign Bancorp, in which the bank already has a 25 per cent stake.

Santander bought that stake three years ago, when Sovereign's shares sold for 27 dollars. Now they are worth 3.80, which means Santander has lost about 2 billion euros on the investment.

After the federal government seized control of Washington Mutual in September, Sovereign ascended to become the United States' largest savings and loan. Sovereign has assets of 79 billion dollars and has 750 branches, mostly in the northeastern United States.

Two weeks ago, Santander took over the savings assets and the branch network of British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley for 770 million euros. It plans to merge the new acquisitions with Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, Santander's British subsidiaries. (dpa)