He country manager of BBVA in Spain, Peio Belausteguigoitia, ruled out this Wednesday that BBVA is interested in buying any other Spanish bank in case the takeover bid for Banco Sabadell does not go ahead. In that case, he has stated that the entity would continue with its current organic growth policy, which in his words is giving them “excellent results.”
Belausteguigoitia has defended—as the bank’s president, Carlos Torres, did on Monday—the attractiveness of the transaction even if the takeover goes ahead and the Government does not allow the two entities to merge. In the summer courses organized by the Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE) and the Menéndez Pelayo University, sponsored by BBVA, the head of this bank for Spain has defended the complementarity of the two banks as one of the rationales of the transaction, to offer a greater value proposition in digitalization for retailers and companies.
“Of the synergies anticipated with the merger, in the end, the least is the reduction in personnel costs and more in technology and general matters. In 2021, all financial entities carried out a profound restructuring,” he defended.
Likewise, Belausteguigoitia has stated that the bank “is not stopped by the takeover bid” and that they continue to maintain intact the business growth and customer acquisition objectives for this year. She has also rejected that the entity is suffering client losses derived from the instability of the business due to the takeover bid and has assured that they are meeting commercial objectives month after month. “We are very positive in the commercial dynamics in the objectives set from the end of 2023 for all of 2024,” she indicated.
At an international level, the banker has confirmed the entry of BBVA into Germany, scheduled for 2025. The idea is to replicate the completely digital business model that it has already deployed in Italy, where it states that it has already reached 500,000 clients, two years and a half before the set objective. He has also stated that BBVA’s current business in the United Kingdom, Atom Bank, is perfectly compatible with TSB, Sabadell’s subsidiary in the country.
For the moment, BBVA must face a first rubicon to take over the Catalan bank on July 5. On that date, an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting will be held to endorse the capital increase with which Sabadell’s current shareholders will enter the capital. It has the support of the two main voting advisors, who recommend voting in favor, but warn of the risks of execution of the transaction. With respect to the voting delegations of retailers, Belausteguigoitia has advanced that it is at the usual level in the ordinary meetings of each year.
The other great challenge is to obtain approval from the regulators, the European Central Bank (ECB), the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and the National Securities Markets Commission (CNMV). The most controversial aspect comes from the Competition side; In fact, the president of the CNMC on Tuesday left the door open to analyze the transaction in phase two and impose conditions. This may cause shareholders to have to make a decision on the offer without knowing the Competition ruling. In this regard, Belausteguigoitia has indicated that they are working hand in hand with these regulators, sending all the required information.
The role of competitors
The CEO of Andbank, Carlos Aso, at the same time, indicated that the concentration of two financial entities “is always positive”, given that it means having one less bank as a competitor. Aso has explained the growth plans of Myinvestor, Andbank’s neobank. He points out that they hope to close the 2024 financial year with seven million profits. This represents tripling the result of 2023, of 2.4 million.
He explains that he registers between 500 and 600 new accounts every day, 15,000 a month, so that they reach 2.5 billion in savings captured. Thus, the bank currently has 300,000 clients, of which 56% already have investment products. The neobank has a business volume of 5.9 billion euros, of which 3.1 billion are investment products, another 2.4 billion are deposits and demand accounts and about 400 million euros are mortgages.
Mapfre studies returning to the Muface concert
The CEO of Mapfre Spain, Elena Sanz, has stated that Mapfre will return to the Muface concert “if it is profitable for the company and for the clients”, while recalling that it is currently not within the system, after in 2009 will stop submitting an offer.
“Whenever the process opens, we study if it is profitable and appropriate for Mapfre and we will do it, right now you know that we are not there, but we will do it when the conditions are seen. We will enter if it is profitable for Mapfre and for the clients,” he said. specifically noted during his speech on the third day of the economic course organized by the Association of Economic Information Journalists (APIE) together with the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP).
The three companies that provide services to Muface have raised complaints about the viability of the model and have expressed doubts about their participation in the upcoming concert. In fact, it is estimated that the losses that companies have from providing services to Muface would be around 200 million euros per year.
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