Minutes later, the entity communicated the planned dates.
“As of September 8, you can become a member, in very favorable conditions, which is probably the most attractive project in European banking,” promised BBVA president, Carlos Torres Vila, in a video message.
“We estimate that, with the merger, you will obtain a benefit per share by 25% higher than the one you would obtain otherwise,” he added adding to the Sabadell shareholders, an entity valued at around 15,000 million euros (about 17.5 billion dollars) by BBVA in this operation.
“Even worse”
The president of Sabadell, Josep Oliu, reiterated his opposition to the offer, which he described in a statement as “even worse than the one he already valued and rejected the Board of Directors in May 2024”.
The CEO of Banco Catalán, César González-Bueno, added that in a first reading of the document they found “even more deficiencies and omissions in the numbers and hypotheses than in the previous version.”
The Board of Directors of Sabadell will analyze in depth the proposal in the next few days and will issue its “argued assessment about what is most beneficial for the shareholders” of the entity, he said in the note.
The final success remains uncertain for this offer that has already exceeded the filter of the Authorizations of the ECB, of the authority of the National Competition, in addition to circumventing the opposition of the Spanish leftist government, very reluctant to the operation for the fear that the competition will reduce.
Although he finally gave him his green light, the executive chaired by Pedro Sánchez imposed strict conditions such as “both entities maintain separate legal personality and heritage, as well as autonomy in the management of their activity”, for at least three years, which could extend to five, as announced in June.
This measure aims to guarantee the maintenance of a high level of financing for companies and consumers, as well as avoid drastic staff cuts and the closure of offices, the government then said.
Brussels notice
The OPA did not like in Catalonia, a region originally from Sabadell and in favor of maintaining an independent Catalan bank, or between unions, SMEs and consumers, fearful of possible branches of branches and jobs.
This catalog of reluctance did not please the European Commission, which in July sent a letter criticizing that certain provisions of Spanish legislation grant the government “unlimited powers to intervene in mergers and banks of banks”, thus violating “the exclusive powers of the European Central Bank.”
The European Commission also considered that these “broad discretionary powers constitute unjustified restrictions to the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital.”
BBVA – which has more than 78 million customers in 25 countries, and a strong implementation in Latin America, especially in Mexico – intends to pay its bid in cash and shares.
Sabadell, who seeks to derail the OPA, sold his British subsidiary TSB to the Santander Bank for 3,100 million euros and promised record remuneration for his shareholders, thanks especially to this assignment.
Founded in 1881 in the town close to Barcelona that gives its name, Sabadell, fourth bank of Spain, is owned by a multitude of investors, but none of them have more than 7% of the group, which makes the result of the OPA unpredictable.
