Sabadell bank does not anticipate receiving any additional merger offers following the proposal from its larger competitor BBVA, its CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno stated on Wednesday.
Last week, another Spanish bank, Abanca, denied reports in the newspaper Expansion that it was exploring a deal with Sabadell. Similarly, Unicaja confirmed it is not engaged in talks with Sabadell.
Gonzalez-Bueno added that in the sector everyone spoke to everyone with “varying degrees of intensity but we keep those conversations to ourselves.”
“What I can say with complete clarity is that there is no prospect, either in the short term or even in the medium term, of any corporate operation, and certainly not in the middle of a takeover bid. It would be a tremendous mess,” he said.
Spanish law mandates that the governing bodies of a company targeted by a takeover bid must stay neutral and seek shareholder approval before taking any steps that could block the acquisition, Reuters reports.
Madrid opposes the deal, valued at more than €14 billion, due to concerns it could result in job cuts. As a result, it has initiated a non-binding public consultation on the issue.
BBVA chairman Carlos Torres told radio station Cadena Cope on Tuesday that the deal should not face additional government scrutiny, arguing it would benefit shareholders, clients, and businesses.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has until 27th May to present the deal to the cabinet for an impact assessment, following Spain's competition authority’s conditional approval of the merger.
If he proceeds, the government will then have one month to make a final decision on whether to green light the deal, with or without conditions.
Torres stated that if Cuerpo does not refer the proposed deal to the cabinet “then we would move quickly to (the bid's) acceptance period, with the markets supervisor needing to previously authorise the takeover prospectus.”
Under Spanish law, while the government cannot block a bid from being submitted, it holds the ultimate authority to decide whether a merger can proceed.