Banco Sabadell returns to ‘normality’ after the failure of BBVA’s takeover bid and will negotiate a payment agreement with Nexi

Sabadell Bank returns to normal after the failure of the takeover bid. One of the first decisions that it will make in this new stage will be to resume negotiations with Nexi for the sale of part of its payments business, Paycomet. The agreement was reached in 2023 and the last issues were yet to be ironed out when BBVA launched the hostile operation in May 2024, which forced the talks to be put on hold until there was more clarity about it.

According to sources close to the process explained to ‘La Información Económica’ and ‘Expansión’ has advanced, in view of the potential agreement a review of the previously agreed termsas well as its content. “The market environment in general, and the payments environment specifically, have been exposed to changes throughout of these for more than a year and a half,” explain the same sources. The entity has declined to comment.

Spain “it continues to be a preferred market for action” for the Italian Nexi, while for the Catalan entity the search for strategic partners to gain scale and efficiency fits within its roadmap. The transaction was valued at 280 million and formed a business alliance for ten years. It is unknown if the amount has changed. The intention was for Sabadell to maintain 20% of the platform for at least three years.

From that moment on, a sale option was opened with which the transfer could reach the 350 million, expandable depending on the objectives. The initial agreement contemplated that Sabadell would maintain the marketing of products related to payments, mainly credit and debit cards, with a scheme similar to the one signed with the manager Amundi. At that time it was estimated that it would have an impact of 14 basis points of capital.

Sabadell is also pending the closing of the sale of its TSB subsidiary in the United Kingdom to Banco Santander for 3,400 million euros, a figure that already includes the estimated benefit until March 2026, when its departure from the country will materialize. With this money, it plans to shower shareholders with an extraordinary dividend of 2,500 million, at a rate of 0.5 euros per share.

After BBVA’s failed plan, the entity will depend almost 100% on the evolution of the business in Spain, since Mexico reports to you around 4% to the income statement, a scenario for which they have drawn up a three-year strategic plan (2025-2027). For this period they have estimated a profitability of 16% and an expected profit for the last year of 1,600 million, now without TSB and in a lower interest rate environment. To put it in context, last year profits broke a record with more than 1.8 billion.