BBVA and Sabadell were due to begin negotiations in mid-April.

Doubts about whether BBVA would have proposed a merger with Sabadell without first talking to those responsible for the venture have been hovering among analysts and investors since the news broke.

The truth is that sources familiar with the operation say that in mid-April there were contacts between BBVA and Sabadell regarding their possible merger. about which they would briefly inform the supervisory authorities who Due to the news leak, they expected it to cook a little slower than it ended up.

During these initial contacts, BBVA had to communicate its decision to restart negotiations that had failed almost four years ago. improvement in supply since Sabadell was valued at 2500 million

Euro. Then the operation failed because Sabadell estimated its value at approximately $3 billion.

Pablo Garcia of Divacons AlphaValue is convinced that these previous contacts took place and agrees with some other market experts that An agreement would be reached between the two leaders of both entities to improve the proposal after it was rejected and for the President of Sabadell to emerge as the winner of the operation.. For this reason, Garcia hopes for a more collaborative approach in the future.

The fact that the British network Sky News reported on the operation of BBVA and Sabadell provoked the intervention of the CNMV with a request for an explanation and BBVA acknowledged their intention to reach an agreement. Sabadell then indicated that he had just received a letter suggesting this operation. There was no mention of prior contact in either of the two statements.

Without becoming a hostile operation, This seemed to come as a surprise to those in charge of Sabadell.

. BBVA has always maintained that this was a friendly operation.developed on the basis of a decision to overcome differences that led to the collapse of the merger proposal almost four years ago.

Neither BBVA nor Sabadell wanted to comment on the situation.

Reaction

Now the question is BBVA’s response to Sabadell’s refusal. Yeah removed from surgery, improvementtries to find an agreement through the Sabadell council or decides to do so by going directly to the market.

In either of these last two options, the question is what constitutes an adequate offer for Sabadell?

BBVA’s offer boosted the value of the company led by Josep Oliu. Since receiving the letter last Tuesday, April 30th, Several investment firms have raised their target price for the bank.. Among the most optimistic is JB Capital analyst Maxim Mishin, who values ​​Sabadell shares at €2.50. Also Marisa Mazo from GVC Gaesco, who gives them a range of up to €2.33 as she believes the management team is gaining confidence quarter after quarter.

Bestinver Securities increases the price to €2.20 and adds €0.4 per share if Sabadell sells TSB at book value or above, “an interesting decision for Sabadell shareholders,” comments the director of signature analysis.