Anger in the Spanish banking sector: Hostile takeover bid for the first time since the 1980s | Economy

With the offer, the second largest Spanish bank is now directly addressing the shareholders of its competitor. The management of the banking company is passed over. This is a sensitive matter, given that the board had rejected the initial offer of 11.5 billion euros.

According to the Sabadell board, the amount of 11.5 billion is too low. But according to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, as BBVA is fully known, there is no room for a higher offer. The same offer has now been sent to the shareholders for that reason.

It is the second time that BBVA tries to take over its rival Sabadell. At the end of 2020, the two banks held brief negotiations about a possible merger. Then they couldn’t agree on the price either.

The merger would create a new major Spanish bank with a combined balance sheet of more than 1 trillion euros. The combined market value of BBVA and Sabadell would be approximately EUR 70 billion. That is approximately equal to the market value of Banco Santander, Spain’s largest lender.

Not only the Sabadell board is against the takeover, Spanish politics is also getting involved. Spain’s Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz Pérez, wrote on X that BBVA’s hostile takeover bid is against the country’s interests and will cost many jobs.

Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo is also against BBVA’s hostile takeover attempt. He stated on the Spanish TV channel TVE that the government “will have the final say when it comes to approving the takeover.”