TAKING THE CREDIT

THE tie-up will be seen as a coup for Antonio Horta Osorio after eight years in charge.

Horta Osorio, 54, is credited with turning the bank around after it came to the brink of collapse during the financial crisis.

But he has struggled with a sluggish share price despite returning the lender to profit and getting it back out of state control.

Revelations about an affair two years ago are thought to have harmed his chances of securing another big job elsewhere.