Link Securities | BBVA (BBVA) has opened the door to withdrawing its hostile takeover bid for Banco Sabadell (SAB) following the extraordinary shareholders’ meetings to be held by the Catalan bank on 6 August to approve the sale of TSB to Santander (SAN) and the subsequent distribution of an extraordinary dividend of €2.5 billion, according to the newspaper Expnasión.
‘There are no guarantees,’ said BBVA CEO Onur Genç in response to questions from the press about whether BBVA’s decision to continue with the operation is final. ‘If there is no opportunity to create value [with the deal], we will withdraw the takeover bid for Sabadell,’ said Genç, who hinted that BBVA might not publish the takeover bid prospectus in September. Following the conditions set by the government for the transaction, BBVA is working on a scenario in which ‘the merger could be implemented in three years,’ ending the requirement for the two entities to maintain independent management. BBVA’s CEO reiterated that the integration is ‘good’ for both banks, but played down the impact that not completing the acquisition would have on BBVA. ‘If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t matter, we will move forward,’ he said.
