In a statement sent to Spain’s securities markets commission, the CNMV, LetterOne, a company through which Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman controls 69.76 percent of DIA, explained that two of three conditions necessary for the €500-million capital increase have already been met.

As well as the success of his takeover bid (OPA) and the agreement with creditors, now reached, the Russian tycoon is required to have a majority of members of the company's board of directors, which is expected to happen shortly.

In a message posted on the social network Twitter, the CEO of Santander, Ana Botín, had announced on Monday that the bank had decided to "support" the supermarket chain.

The DIA group, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has more than 6,100 stores and more than 43,000 employees in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina.

The group's sales have fallen in the last three years – from €9 billion in 2015 to just over €7.3 billion last year– due, among other factors, to increased competition in Spain, where it slipped from second to third position in terms of market share.

The company had been facing dissolution due to technical bankruptcy since the end of 2018 and had until Monday to bolster its balance sheet to avoid the start of bankruptcy proceedings.