CNMV demands explanations from Sabadell and Unicaja regarding merger

Rumors of a new banking merger are sweeping the Spanish sector. Both main characters have already hit the target several times. Banco Sabadell may be interested in Unicaja. Given this news, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has asked both companies for clarification regarding this possible merger. However, the two banks claim that there were no meetings or conversations on this matter.

Close financial sources assured that the supervisory authority was interested in the news published this Monday. Confidential in which it was stated that Sabadell had begun to maintain contacts with executives and politicians in recent months to pave the way for a possible merger. The CNMV called these organizations to find out what is going on between them and in case there is anything to find out beyond the news.

Unicaja stated that No contacts were maintained, nor were any corporate deals discussed. “The organization’s goal is to improve both its structural profitability and customer experience, issues on which our actions are focused,” the organization explained.

For their part, sources close to Banco Sabadell noted that “the reality is that there is nothing here.” In fact, they confirmed this once again.No conversations, no advisers studying a possible operation. Regarding the meetings of the President of the Catalan entity, Josep Oliu, with officials of the Bank of Spain mentioned in the news of El Confidencial, these sources assure that these are meetings in which various topics can be discussed, and not just the merger.

In this case, Sabadell Bank According to the news, he has two strong points to negotiate. One of them is that the Unicaja Fund, the company’s largest shareholder, will remain the first investor in the new group. Secondly, the headquarters of the new group will be in Malaga, and not in Alicante (the current headquarters of Banco Sabadell). This will also benefit Catalan education, as it will not be involved in political blackmail of companies returning to Catalonia.

Although the news has not been confirmed, Unicaja has recorded a significant increase in ibex prices. The Bank of Malaga rose on the stock market this Monday by 3.46%. making it the second most advanced meaning. In turn, Sabadell shares rose 2.74%.

In September last year, the Ara newspaper already published conversations between two financial structures. At the time, Banco Sabadell CEO César González-Bueno noted that the organization was not considering the possibility of any corporate activity either in Spain or abroad, and assured that “absolutely nothing” had been discussed regarding a hypothetical interest in purchasing Unicaja.

The CEO added that “Everyone is very happy with their perimeter. “There is no supply or demand” and for this reason he assured that in Spain there is “stability in the structure of financial structures”.

This issue came to light again at the last press conference following the organization’s activities on February 1. On this occasion, Gonzalez-Bueno insisted that the bank was not currently considering corporate transactions, but that “if there was something for sale, we would look at it”, although he made it clear that he did not value ” any desire to do anything.” corporate operations.”

Banco Sabadell merger processes

This is not the first time Banco Sabadell has been on the list of possible mergers. In fact, in 2020, the year of the pandemic, BBVA was on the verge of purchasing the Catalan enterprise. This operation would mark the end of Sabadell. However, the merger was aborted due to the president’s refusal to sell the company at too low a price. The last offer was about 250 million less than the amount they asked from Sabadell.

Thus, plans to create what could become second bank in the country by assetswith a balance sheet of about 600 billion euros in Spain alone, behind the banking giant created by the merger CaixaBank and Bankia.

Since then, and with changes in management, Sabadell has improved margins and prices. At that time, its capitalization was about 1,500 million, and at the moment it is 6,215 million euros. This evolution has made the bank the protagonist of possible corporate transactions. Sabadell remains a relatively small company, however, and some analysts suggest its price still makes it a potential target for takeover bids.

As for Unicaja, the Malaga company has just emerged from a management crisis and completed its merger with Liberbank after two and a half years. Unicaja has reorganized its board of directors, so a merger does not seem to make the most sense. The bank believes there is room to improve results under new management, led by Isidro Rubiales as CEO and Jose Sevilla (former No. 2 at Bankia) as president. It was the only bank to record a drop in profits in 2023. Unicaja Banco made a net profit of 267 million euros in 2023

This was 4% less than the previous year, following write-downs for the full year of €546 million.