More than seven years later, with Salvador Illa in the Generalitat, in the middle of the central government’s negotiations with the independentists and in the midst of a takeover of BBVA, Sabadell Bank has decided to return to Catalonia. The entity chaired by Josep Oliu will move its headquarters from Alicante to Sabadell (Barcelona), thus making the reverse move that it made on October 5, 2017 in the middle of the process. Sources from the entity do not comment.
An earthquake of enormous magnitude in the Spanish and Catalan business community, as well as in national and regional politics. The first large Ibex 35 company to make its comeback, and it also does so at a critical moment for the bank as it is under siege from BBVA. The decision will soon be approved by the board of directors of the Catalan entity and is led by both president Oliu and the CEO. César González-Bueno.
There is still no set date to give the green light to move the headquarters back to Catalonia, but it has already been decided to take the path. The plan is to report the decision to both the central government of Pedro Sánchez and the autonomous government of Salvador Illa as soon as possible. The news, thus, has caught the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, going to the Davos Forum.
When Sabadell decided to leave the autonomous community in October 2017, it was the first of the Ibex who made this move. He chose Alicante because it already had the operational headquarters of the defunct CAM there, an entity that it had absorbed a few years before in the financial crisis.
At that time the process unleashed panic in certain companies, especially banks. They not only suffered falls on the stock market but also flight of deposits: clients took the money to other autonomous communities. In those months after 1-O, more than 32.5 billion euros in deposits.
The conditions now are radically different. Salvador Illa He is the president of the Generalitat and since then he has been conveying to businessmen that the environment is now favorable to the productive fabric so that it can return to Catalonia. This is also interpreted by Banco Sabadell, which sees that the situation has changed and the time to move the headquarters is right.
And the chosen moment also coincides with the pressures that have been exerted for several quarters on companies to return to Catalonia. A wish that has been expressed by the central and regional governments and also by some business organizations such as Foment. But the greatest push has lately come from the independence movement, which wants as many as the better to return and whatever the case may be, voluntarily or forced.
The political pressure from the independence movement to the Government of Spain to try to force some type of legislation that encourages the return of the companies that abandoned Catalonia after October 1 is a constant, especially since the agreement sealed by the PSOE and Junts in November.
This means fully normalizing Sabadell’s relations with its origins. A move highly anticipated by everyone and that could be the trigger for other companies to return to Catalonia from now on.
At the time, giants such as Caixabank, Criteria Caixa, Naturgy, Cellnex, Allianz and countless other companies decided to leave the region due to the instability generated by the process.
BBVA takeover bid
Sabadell’s decision to return to Catalonia also coincides with BBVA’s takeover bid for the bank. An operation that was launched last May and that still has signs of extending over time for several months since the approval of the Competition and the approval of the takeover brochure are still missing.
This will also change certain aspects of the operation launched by the Basque bank. The main and most important one is that Sabadell has a shareholding deeply rooted in the territory, in this case mainly Catalonia, which should be a point in its favor so that its shareholders can reject the takeover bid when the acceptance period opens.
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