Spanish bank Banco Santander announced plans to use the recent strong financial performance of its Mexican unit as leverage to raise $4.3 billion in a stock offering -- the largest ever in Mexico's history. Part of a longer-term expansion plan in Latin America, the move is also designed to signal financial markets that the bank has high growth potential outside of its troubled home markets in Spain and the eurozone.

In an interview, Wharton management professor Mauro Guillen and Adrian Tschoegl, a Wharton management lecturer, discuss how the deal fits in with Santander's master plan.