BBVA CEO Onur Genç asked the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) that the conditions it imposes on the public tender offer Hostile takeover of 100% of the shares of Bank Sabadell are similar to those decided during the two recent merger processes in the Spanish market, the CaixaBank merger with Bankia and Unique with Liberbank.
BBVA CEO expressed confidence that the process The Sabadell acquisition process will be approved, based on the fact that both acquisition processes were previously approved in the first phase.
The manager considers this a strong argument for its approval on this occasion also, since the CNMC would apply the same methodology used in previous mergers.
According to BBVA, this operation is a logical step, and they affirm that the resulting entity will not be larger than the merger of CaixaBank with Bankia, which could facilitate approval from regulators.
“Based on precedent, we expect a similar range of remedies (commitments and/or conditions) of those made in these two transactions and, at the moment, we are essentially working on it”, indicated Genç during his speech at the XV Financial Meeting organized by Expansion and KPMG.
BBVA on the CNMC
The CNMC decided to approve the operation of Caixa with a series of commitments concerning certain postal codes where the bank would remain in a monopoly situation.
Among the commitments were not to give up, said municipalitiesmaintain conditions for certain customers and offer their products in equal or no worse conditions, among others.
In the case of Unicaja and Liberbank, it obliged the Andalusian bank to report changes in conditions when a Liberbank customer transferred to Unicaja benefited from less advantageous commercial conditions.
On the other hand, in certain postal codes, Unicaja is committed to offering its products in no worse conditions while remaining in a situation of duopoly.
Regarding the current state of the process, the CEO said that BBVA’s forecast is that it will be approved in the first phase, based on precedents, but, in any case, he considers it necessary to let work institutions. “We are in sleep mode“, he said. “We totally respect what the authority decides, they are very detailed and very technical,” he added.
During his speech, the CEO insisted on BBVA’s arguments that the merger with Sabadell is a “school” operation, because the two entities are very complementary. On the other hand, the manager clarified that this made sense, because it would contribute to diluting the fixed expenses technology on a broader basis customers.
Genç said he was willing to work with the government to allay “any concerns” the merger might raise. And he recalled that the agreement would benefit Spain by allowing the merged bank to lend 5 billion euros additional each year.
Asked about the situation of MexicoThe executive said there was currently some volatility with the Mexican currency, but that it was something that “happens after every election.” Genç also appreciated Mexico’s strength as an economy due to its manufacturing cost, which is already lower than Mexico’s. China.
