MADRID, Sept 16 (Askume) – Banco Sabadell (SABE.MC) Chief Executive Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno said on Monday that the bank’s bigger rival BBVAFor them, a hostile takeover (BBVA.MC) is less likely to succeed .
“I think the chances of success of this operation are very low,” he said at a banking event in Madrid.
However, BBVA Spain country manager Peyo Belasteguigoitia, who spoke on the same panel as Gonzalez-Bueno, said he was concerned the acquisition was proceeding with overconfidence.
In April, Spain’s BBVA offered 12 billion euros ($13.34 billion) for all of Sabadell’s shares, an offer that went unfavorable in May and was opposed by the Spanish government, butIt was approved by the European Central Bank on 5 September.
Under Spanish law, the government cannot block a takeover bid, but it has the final say on whether to allow a merger. Takeovers must also be authorized by Spain’s stock market regulator and its antitrust regulator, the CNMC.
The government believes that a merger of the two banks would have a potentially damaging effect on Spain’s financial system and impact jobs and customers.
(1 USD = 0.8993 EUR)
