Banco Sabadell CEO highlights unanimous political rejection of BBVA’s hostile takeover bid

Banco Sabadell CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno highlights the differences between BBVA’s hostile takeover bid for Sabadell and the CaixaBank-Bankia merger, showing confidence in the survival of the Catalan entity.

Banco Sabadell CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno highlighted the unanimous opposition in Spanish politics to the hostile takeover proposal put forward by BBVA for his business. In an interview with Espejo Público, González-Bueno stressed concerns about the survival of a mid-sized bank like Sabadell, which has a large client base in the small and medium-sized business segment.

“I think this is the only case, along with Ponle Freno, in which there is complete unanimity, and not only in Catalonia. Feijoo himself (referring to the President of the PP) said that he does not understand that there is a sufficient reason to authorize the merger of two banks that work perfectly, and above all when one is so intertwined with SMEs,” he emphasized.

Gonzalez-Bueno appreciated that Sabadell the most important bank for small and medium-sized businesses in Spain, since every second company in the country is a client of this enterprise.. SMEs make up 66% of employment in Spain and need to have multiple banks to cover their financial needs comprehensively. “Sabadell is an excellent bank, every second SME in Spain is a client of Sabadell, they have 16 million employees, they account for 66% of employment in Spain,” he recalled. “And SMEs need several banks, it’s not the same as applying for a mortgage or having a current account (…). This is much more relevant because SMEs need one, two, three or four banks because they use different products every time, so survival is very important.”

Follow the Banco Sabadell quote live

Sabadell’s CEO noted that the operation proposed by BBVA differs significantly from the merger of CaixaBank and Bankia. While the merger of CaixaBank and Bankia focused on a single segment, the integration of Sabadell with BBVA will mainly affect SMEs, making it a unique and unusual case in the Spanish banking sector.

Gonzalez-Bueno explained that the takeover process by Sabadell shareholders will take place around November, after which CNMC will make a decision on the proposed merger. He stressed that a significant period of time will pass before a final decision is made, during which time Sabadell will continue to operate as usual.

He also mentioned the “attachment” of minority shareholders to Sabadell, which reflects the bank’s importance and uniqueness in the Spanish financial market.

Finally, Gonzalez-Bueno also addressed the possible impact of the operation on Sabadell’s workforce, noting that BBVA announced cost cuts that could impact employment. However, he expressed confidence that the bank’s activities will continue to proceed smoothly.

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