BBVA shareholders will vote this Friday if they support the takeover bid for Banco Sabadell.

Madrid (EFE) – BBVA shareholders are called to participate this Friday in an extraordinary meeting called by the entity to propose the capital increase needed to launch a takeover bid for Banco Sabadell, which will serve to assess support for the operation.

Although it can be followed via the bank’s own website, the shareholders’ meeting will start at 10:00 in Bilbao’s Euskalduna Palace and is expected to be well attended, despite the fact that shareholders who voted in favour of the operation have the opportunity to delegate their vote to the president in advance.

The capital increase, which must be approved by the board of directors, will consist of the issue of new BBVA shares, the number of which has not yet been determined, which will be distributed to shareholders of Banco Sabadell who accept the offer to buy the Basque group, a key step in the strategy to gain control of the organization.

Torres asks shareholders for support in letter

BBVA President Carlos Torres wrote to the bank’s shareholders asking for their support in carrying out the capital increase and promoting the purchase of Sabadell, a “positive” project for the shareholders themselves, employees and society as a whole.

The bank, both through electronic communication or notifications in the application, and from the offices themselves, made an attempt to contact shareholders to inform them of the convening of an extraordinary meeting and the reasons for holding it.

Obtaining shareholder approval is key to BBVA being able to increase its capital and offer Sabadell shareholders one new BBVA share for every 4.83 shares in the Catalan bank.

The shareholders’ meeting will take place after BBVA has requested all the approvals for the takeover bid, including a formal request to the European Central Bank (ECB), after it has done the same with the stock market supervisory authority and the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC).

BBVA could launch takeover bid without CNMC’s opinion

Once the takeover has been approved by the CNMV and the ECB, BBVA will be able to make its offer to Sabadell shareholders, even if the Competition company, CNMC, has not expressed its opinion or set conditions.

If BBVA goes ahead with its offer, which could in any case be subject to the CNMC’s final decision, BBVA would have to give Sabadell shareholders a period of between 15 and 70 days to decide whether to sell their securities.

If the bid is successful and BBVA receives more than half of the Sabadell shareholders willing to sell, the bank could put forward its final idea of ​​merging the two companies, which would be subject to the conditions set by the CNMC and would be finally approved by the Ministry of Economy.

Since BBVA announced its takeover bid for Sabadell, the government has publicly opposed the operation, with Economy Minister Carlos Bodi, who rejected the proposal, warning that the final say on the merger rests with the executive branch and with him in particular.