7 May, 2024 @ 15:15
1 min read

Spain’s Sabadell bank rejects merger offer from BBVA after being ‘significantly undervalued’ by its rival

Spain’s Sabadell bank rejects merger offer from BBVA after being ‘significantly undervalued’ by its rival

A PROPOSED merger between Banco Sabadell and the BBVA has been rejected by the Sabadell board on the grounds that it ‘significantly undervalues’ the bank and its growth prospects.

In a statement, the Sabadell board said that it has full confidence in its growth strategy and its financial objectives, and is of the view that remaining independent will generate more money for its shareholders.”

News of the merger proposal became public last week and would have expanded BBVA’s position as Spain’s second largest bank behind Santander and increasing its lead over CaixaBank.

READ MORE:

In terms of assets, Banco Sabadell is the fourth largest in the country.

Experts don’t rule out BBVA coming back with an improved offer but more likely believe they will turn their eyes to smaller entities like Bankinter or Unicaja.

Expanding on its reason for rejecting the BBVA merger, Sabadell highlighted a fall in BBVA’s share price and believes its rejected is ‘aligned with the interest of its customers and employees’.

One fear was that if a merger happened, yet more bank branches would close as has been the case over the last few years.

BBVA had valued Sabadell at €12 billion and would also have scrapped the Sabadell name under the proposed union.

In a video address on Tuesday to Sabadell staff, the chairman, Josep Oliu, said: “The bank is a strong institution with a future, a great entity and I thank you all.”

JOSEP OLIU

“I want to thank you for the great work you have done for so many years and that I am convinced you will continue to do so from here on out.”

Sabadell CEO, Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno, highlighted the board’s support for the bank’s growth plans.

“We are not going to disappoint you. The trust you put in us is a stimulus to continue improving even more,” he said.

He also encouraged employees to carry as normal, indicating that ‘together we will make Banco Sabadell bigger, more powerful and more profitable in the future’.

Sabadell and BBVA had merger talks in 2020 which came to nothing.

Alex Trelinski

Alex worked for 30 years for the BBC as a presenter, producer and manager. He covered a variety of areas specialising in sport, news and politics. After moving to the Costa Blanca over a decade ago, he edited a newspaper for 5 years and worked on local radio.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

Heat warning in Spain: Anticyclone will bring highs of 30C from TODAY and ‘extreme heat’ at the weekend

Boxer Antonio Barrul
Next Story

WATCH: Boxer divides opinion in Spain after beating up an ‘abusive boyfriend’ who was ‘shouting at his girlfriend’ inside a cinema

Latest from Business & Finance

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press

Casino

How to Choose the Best Table Game in a Crypto Casino?

Online crypto gambling offers such a wide game portfolio that

The only ski resort in southern Spain will open its slopes this weekend as cold snap promises more snow

SOUTHERN Spain’s only ski resort is due to open its