The investment firm GQG Partners sold its stake in the entity chaired by Carlos Torres in the summer, after warning the management team that the takeover bid against Banco Sabadell would consume too much time and distract them, in addition to diluting its participation in emerging markets (Turkey and Mexico), according to what the Financial Times newspaper published yesterday.
GQG, which manages some 150,000 million dollars in assets under management (almost 138,000 million euros) is one of the largest institutional investment arms of several European banks, so its opinion and actions regarding the hostile operation undertaken by BBVA against Bank Sabadell is relevant. Not in vain, GQG Partners owned 3.09% of BBVA in February 2021, which in August 2022 dropped to 2.957%, without any further movements being reflected since then that exceed the 3% threshold required by the CNMV for inform.
The bank’s largest shareholder currently is BlackRock – one of the largest firms in the global investment industry, with 10.5 trillion dollars of assets under management -, with 6.8% of the capital; followed by Capital Research, with another 5,027%, according to CNMV records.
The sale of GQG Partners has been revealed at a time when the takeover bid is pending authorization from the CNMV and analysis by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). The first body has already announced that it will wait to know the path that the CNMC takes – whether it finally analyzes it in a second phase or not – to decide when it will authorize it for its part, Servimedia reports.
Once authorized by the CNMV, the period would open for Sabadell shareholders to speak out. Meanwhile, the CNMC’s analysis is taking time, as its president, Cani Fernández, has revealed, as it is a hostile takeover bid. In fact, many analysts do not expect it to make a statement until well into next year, which would put the exchange ratio of the bank chaired by Torres at risk, a factor that would have led the North American fund GQG Partners to sell its stake due to the delay in the operation over time.
BBVA submitted a €12.23 billion takeover bid for its smaller rival in April, which turned hostile in May, taking the offer directly to Sabadell shareholders after the board of directors previously rejected the proposal.
Although the Spanish government is not in favor of the takeover bid, the European Central Bank gave its approval in September.
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