After almost a week of uncertainty in Spanish banking, Banco Sabadell has responded to the merger offer proposed by BBVA. The board of directors of the Catalan bank, who indicated a few days ago that they would study the operation, has this Monday evaluated the offer by BBVA, Spain's second largest financial institution. The decision: just as in November 2020, when BBVA launched a similar bid for the number five bank in Spain, the offer was rejected. Sabadell, chaired by Josep Oliu for 25 years, had the options of accepting the bid, renegotiating it or rejecting it outright to follow its own path; it chose the last course of action.
In a statement reissued to the Spain's National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the bank indicates that it took this decision with the assistance of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Uría Menéndez, its financial and legal advisors.
It also explains that Banco Sabadell's board of directors carefully reviewed the proposal and considered that BBVA's offer "significantly undervalues Banco Sabadell's project and its growth prospects as an independent entity".
The board, it continues, is fully confident in Banco Sabadell's growth strategy and its financial objectives, and is of the opinion that Banco Sabadell's strategy as an independent entity "will generate more value for its shareholders".