Illa and Puigdemont celebrate the failure of BBVA’s takeover bid and defend a banking system “adapted to the reality” of Catalonia

The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Lla, considers that the failure of BBVA’s takeover bid for Banco Sabadell confirms the need to have a banking system “adapted to the reality” of Catalonia and “its business fabric.”

“The outcome of BBVA’s takeover bid for Banco Sabadell confirms what we have always defended: a banking system adapted to the reality of Catalonia and its business fabric,” he shared on social networks after learning the result of the operation.

Illa has also highlighted the “exemplary role” that the regulatory bodies and authorities have had during this takeover bid: Bank of Spain, CNMC and CNMV. “Now we have to look forward. We count on the important role that BBVA and Banco Sabadell must continue to play to generate progress and prosperity in Catalonia,” he concluded.

The Catalan president has thus referred to the result of the takeover bid, which has not gone ahead, by not reaching BBVA or 26% of the capital from Banco Sabadell. Illa has been against the Public Acquisition Offer throughout the entire process.

BBVA has achieved the backing of 25.47% of the capital of Banco Sabadell, very far from its initial objective of achieving at least 50%, which would have given it control of the Catalan entity. In this way, BBVA’s offer, which involved delivering one new bank share for 4.8376 Sabadell shares, is void.

Puigdemont: ““It was important that the takeover did not prosper”

For his part, the president of Junts and former president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, has also celebrated that BBVA’s takeover bid for Banco Sabadell has not been successful. “The attempt to put an end to Catalonia’s banking system has failed,” has published on social networks.

“Banco Sabadell will not be absorbed by BBVA. It was important that the takeover did not prosper; Now it is even more important for Sabadell to strengthen links with the economic and social system of Catalonia. It is the best prevention for future absorption temptations,” Puigdemont added in his message.

On the other hand, the president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has indicated that now Sabadell “will have the opportunity to be more useful than ever to the Catalan economy“. “The failure of BBVA’s takeover bid against Banco Sabadell is good news for Catalonia, and for the country’s companies and workers,” he stressed. According to Junqueras, “the opportunities that arise from the failure of the takeover bid cannot be lost, also for society as a whole.”

And the leader of the Comuns in the Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, has assessed that if it has prospered “banking concentration would have worsened even more”. “It is good news that BBVA’s takeover bid for Sabadell fails, which would have further aggravated banking concentration,” he said. “Now it is necessary for Sabadell to respond to the commitment of Catalan society, guaranteeing credit, especially to SMEs, and maintaining all jobs,” he added.

The Government shows its “total respect” to shareholders

The Government has shown its “total respect” for the decision of the shareholders of Banco Sabadell not to support with a majority the takeover bid formulated by BBVA, which does not go ahead. “Total respect for the decision of the shareholders of Banco Sabadell, which is who was responsible for evaluating the operation,” sources from the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business have indicated.

These sources have highlighted “the impeccable performance of all supervisors and authorities involved in the process”, the Bank of Spain, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Similarly, the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has described “good news” the failure of the takeover bid. “We said it from the beginning: the takeover bid was a bad operation, with negative effects on employment, which aggravated banking concentration, made financing difficult for small and medium-sized companies and increased financial exclusion,” Díaz published in BlueSky.

Foment and Pimec celebrate the outcome

The Catalan employers Promotion of Treball and Pimec They have also celebrated that BBVA’s takeover bid for Banco Sabadell has become void.

In a message on social networks, Foment, chaired by Josep Sánchez-Llibre, has assured that the employers’ association “evaluates very positively that BBVA’s hostile takeover bid for Banco Sabadell has declined.” “Catalonia needs a financial center like Sabadell and its survival will make it easier for it to once again lead the Spanish economy,” he added.

Along the same lines, the Pimec employers’ association, chaired by Antoni Cañete, comments, through a statement, that it “positively values” the outcome. “Is a sign of the majority rejection of the market, of the institutions and of the economic fabric to an operation that would have had negative consequences for banking competition, especially for small and medium-sized companies,” he stressed.

Pimec recalled that from the beginning it positioned itself against the takeover bid, warning that banking concentration “would be detrimental to the financing of SMEs, proximity to the client and the diversity of the financial offer.” “This result is good news for the business fabric and for the country’s productive economy.. SMEs need nearby entities, with decision criteria rooted in the territory and with sensitivity to the local reality,” said Cañete.