BBVA and Sabadell will jointly oversee venture financing.

BBVA competed with for a long time Santander and CaixaBank to achieve maximum participation in venture capital financing in Spain and Sabadell Last year he launched an offensive to gain strength in the area, which led him to to challenge the leadership with the greatest.

Yeah BBVA and Sabadell If they merge, they will have almost half the market. And this is a business in which Banks have doubled their efforts get clients who pay more than others for the loans they request due to their higher risk profile and who are repeat offenders because the volume of companies they have in their portfolio means they are always looking for resources.

Santander is the historical ruler venture capital loan in spainHe has the strength that comes from his traditional banking business, but he adds to that his direct lending fund. Tresmareswho resorts to operations that go beyond the most orthodox range.

Together they completed 10 financings in the first quarter of the year, according to the investment bank. Hoolihan Lokey, which tracks transactions worth more than 20 million euros every three months. Santander scored eight and Tresmares two.

Second

No other bank or credit fund did more, but its second-largest venture capital loan was Sabadellwith seven followed by BBVAwith six. KaishaBank put money on five.

If a hostile takeover prevails and BBVA and Sabadell they join forces, Santander will lose the crownIn the first quarter of 2024, this will happen only for three types of financing, and if you look at the cumulative total over the last twelve months, then for 20.

BBVA has 29 transactions during this period; followed by Santander and CaixaBankwhich have equal 26 points; from Sabadellfrom 22, and Tresmareswhich leaves five. The number of the two companies together will reach 51, which is almost half of the large banking market, although it must be taken into account that there are duplicate clients that BBVA and Sabadell Each of them gave a part of the total loan amount.

Houlihan points to large international funds as the architects of the two banks’ position, along with national managers. EQT, Cinven, Bridgepoint, Bain or Investindustrial turned to BBVA and Sabadell to finance the operations of their investment properties in Spain and also did so MCH, Magnum, Portobello or Miura.

The most significant operations of the last 12 months have passed through his hands, such as Windar, Idealista, Tendam, Sacyr Estate, Grupo Palacios, Palex or Tragaluz.

Just over a year ago, BBVA was the only one of two bidders for a hostile, venture-backed takeover. But Sabadell signed Luis Lopez-Coronado in April 2023 from Natixis.and put him in charge of leveraged buyouts (LBOs), which are transactions that venture capital firms undertake to finance their acquisitions or to refinance their investees.

Specialized team

Lopez-Coronado assembled a specialized team of about a dozen people. with the intention of providing a comprehensive service to some of its core clients: mid-sized companies that have been dealing with commercial banks on a daily basis for many years and that are now part of the venture capital portfolio or potential targets. funds. It has also strengthened its relationships with the managers who make the deal decisions.

Operations began to arrive and from mid-2023 Sabadell participated in many large LBO financings. It now competes head-to-head with Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank.who have long been exploiting their relationships with medium-sized Spanish companies.

The business revenue is the main attraction. Venture capital firms are not large corporations, but unrated groups that operate outside the traditional commercial channel and therefore pay higher interest rates than in more standardized loans.

This increases the risk, but the bank can compensate for it by the knowledge it provides. commercial business you conduct with these organizationsAccording to financial sources, at the same time, for such companies, the first option is usually to contact their regular bankers.

Direct credit funds do not have such advantages. Compared to the 108 loans that the four big banks and Tresmares have provided in the last 12 months, Oquendo’s largest alternative lender made sevenBelow is the background. Goldman Sachswith three.

AND Hoolihan expects business to continue to grow. Lower interest rates, stabilizing inflation and the resurgence of mergers and acquisitions They will allow more operations to be carried out in the coming quarters, he assures.

District of Columbia Consultinganother investment bank that has been watching the market more closely, is finding strong demand for high-quality assets. “We continue to see that banks and credit funds find more opportunities“Lenders are continuing their cautious approach, avoiding cyclical sectors and sectors associated with higher investment needs,” he explains.