BarcelonaGood news, however long awaited, for BBVA. The entity of Biscay origin had had two tough weeks following Trump’s victory in the United States and the Competition report that sent its takeover of Banco Sabadell to phase 2, and has found solace in Brussels. The European Commission has given the green light this Tuesday to the bank acquisition offer that the bank chaired by Carlos Torres presented last May. The community executive has concluded without objections the review of the takeover bid and, in this way, the operation has passed another of the necessary milestones until Sabadell’s shareholders can decide whether to accept the proposal.
The two financial entities took for granted the approval of Brussels since it was known that the European Commission would examine the operation to explore the existence of potential subsidies from foreign countries that could distort the market. Community sources cited by Efe have recalled that the European authorities were waiting to verify that BBVA will not benefit from aid from third states. Among the public supports that BBVA has received are the European Central Bank (which already gave it the green light in September) and the European Commission itself, which has always insisted that strong, cross-border entities are needed to advance in the union of capitals.
Despite having passed this procedure, the takeover is currently on the roof of Competencia, which will analyze in the coming months to what extent the operation, which would leave only three large entities in Spain, is convenient for customers. In parallel to Competence, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) also has its say, but it is expected to approve the offer prospectus without complications. The Spanish government has repeatedly said that if the takeover bid were to go ahead, it would reserve the option to veto the merger between entities to keep Banco Sabadell operating independently of BBVA.
Lament of Caixa Engineers
At the end of April, BBVA’s interest in Banco Sabadell became known and since then the two entities have been fighting hard to convince the shareholders and the various social actors of whether or not the operation is appropriate. Along the way, the two banks have tried to grow in customers, and another entity, the credit cooperative Caixa Enginyers, warned this Tuesday that they are doing so with “commercial aggression” that is distorting the market. This was expressed by Joan Cavallé, still general director of the entity, during a meeting with the media to present Juanjo Llopis, who will replace him from January. “They are very relevant entities and they generate distortion”, said Cavallé, who pointed out that the cooperative has not entered into price wars.
Caixa Enginyers admits that if the takeover bid goes ahead, it could open up the opportunity to obtain new partners
Cavallé has pointed out that this competition between BBVA and Banco Sabadell has been noticed both in their offers to raise liabilities and in the prices they offer to customers. “We are going to price policies that are not sustainable in the long term”, he said, and pointed out that the procedures of the tender are so long in time that the policies of the entities involved are affecting the entire market.
The cooperative has explained that if the takeover bid goes ahead there will be a feeling of “disaffection” among Sabadell’s customers and that they have plans to attract them: “This would open up opportunities for other entities”, explained Cavallé, who remembered the great boom in new members that the cooperative had in 2017 and 2018 after CaixaBank and Banc Sabadell itself removed their headquarters from Catalonia.
With regard to the moment Caixa Enginyers is living in, Cavallé and Llopis have highlighted the ATM project in municipalities at risk of financial exclusion that the organization has worked on in recent months.
