GQG Partners, which once held 3% of BBVA’s capital, has sold its stake due to the decision of the bank led by Carlos Torres to make a hostile offer for Banco Sabadell, according to ‘Financial Times’ and confirmed to Europa Press in market sources.
The American fund made the decision in July to divest its stake in the bank, after having communicated to BBVA’s management team its perception that the offer for Sabadell would consume too much time and distract the entity from its purpose, in addition to diluting its exposure. to emerging markets, according to the British newspaper.
According to the records of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) consulted by Europa Press, The fund based in Florida came to have 3,090% of BBVA’s shares in February 2021, a participation that reduced slightly in August 2022 to 2.957%.
Despite the monitoring of its investment, GQG Partners had taken the decision not to intervene or give instructions in relation to the voting rights it held in the bank.
Currently, BBVA’s main shareholders are the American fund BlackRock with 6.68% and Capital Research and Management Company, with 5.027%.
BBVA went the hostile route
BBVA announced in May the launch of a hostile Public Takeover Offer (OPA) for 100% of Banco Sabadell, after having tried unsuccessfully a month earlier for a friendly agreement to merge both entities, which was flatly rejected by the board of directors. administration of Banco Sabadell.
It should be remembered that at the end of 2020, both entities held negotiations to merge, although they did not finally reach an agreement due to discrepancies in the exchange equation and in the command structure of the resulting entity.
In a context of reduction of interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) and with abundant financial muscle after selling its business in the United States for 9.7 billion, BBVA has once again attempted this operation that aims to merge two of the largest Spanish banks and for which it finds “strategic sense.”
However, the Catalan entity has flatly rejected the proposal, considering that it can generate more value alone for shareholders and that BBVA’s offer undervalues its project.
This led BBVA to launch the hostile takeover bid, in which it transferred to Sabadell shareholders the same offer that it had made to the board, considering it “very attractive”, and with the ultimate objective of merging both entities with a view to winning. weight in the SME market in Spain, a business where Sabadell especially stands out.
After obtaining the ‘approval’ of its shareholders meeting and the ECB – which analyzed the operation solely from the perspective of solvency -, BBVA is now waiting to receive authorization from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). ) but, especially, from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) on the project, aware of the position that the Government has adopted which, from the first moment, he has opposed the operation.
The deadlines
BBVA’s calendar estimates that the process to launch the takeover bid for Sabadell will take between six or eight months from the announcement of the operation in May, including the time expected to obtain all the necessary authorizations. In fact, for the CNMC, the bank estimates about five or six months, that is, until the beginning of November.
In a prospectus sent to the US SEC, BBVA continues to maintain its forecast that the merger will close at the end of the first half of 2025.
However, recently, the Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, pointed out that the OPA calendar could be extended «several more months, well into the first quarter of 2025« if the CNMC analysis goes to phase 2. Currently, it is in phase 1.
In fact, Body took the opportunity to reiterate its opposition to the operation proposed by BBVA, since it does not observe any new element that would make it change its mind. He insisted on the “great concern” he has about the impact that the operation may have on competition and on the situation for consumers.
Given this situation, the president of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Rodrigo Buenaventura, indicated before the Economy Commission of the Congress of Deputies that his organization will monitor what is the “optimal” moment to approve the prospectus, taking into account The speed that must be present in the analysis of the document and the protection of the right of investors to attend an offer with the greatest amount of information possible takes into account.
«We have a time problem versus the completeness of the information. We have to evaluate what these two objectives are, which one weighs more at each moment and monitor the process to decide when approval should occur, once the project is completed. [o folleto] is complete,” said Buenaventura, who also reported that the document was still under review.
#largest #shareholders #leaves #BBVA #due #doubts #takeover #bid #Sabadell
