Both financial institutions closed the week with a cumulative decline of 7% each, as they were also weighed down by investors' doubts regarding the evolution of monetary policy by the main central banks.
BBVA and Banco Sabadell have concluded trading on Friday with declines of 2.13% and 2.06% respectively following the 'green light' from the European Central Bank (ECB) to the takeover bid (OPA) for BBVA.
Specifically, the Catalan firm closed the session with its shares at a price of 1.99 dollars, while the company chaired by Carlos Torres ended with its shares at a price of 9.84 dollars, according to market data.
It is also worth noting that both financial institutions have closed the week with a cumulative decline of 7% each, as they have also been weighed down by investors' doubts regarding the evolution of monetary policy by the main central banks.
In this regard, Unicaja ended the week with a discount of 5.63%; Banco Santander 4.53%; CaixaBank 2.6% and Bankinter 0.78 percent.
In fact, the market is already assuming that the European Central Bank (ECB) will cut rates by another quarter of a point at its meeting next week, which would leave the rate at 4%.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has notified BBVA of its decision not to oppose the takeover of Banco Sabadell as a result of the proposed public takeover bid (OPA).
The lack of opposition from Frankfurt was one of the milestones that BBVA had to achieve in order to execute the takeover bid. This week it also received the green light from British regulators for its indirect control of TSB, which is a subsidiary of Sabadell.
"We have received the approval of the European Central Bank for our offer to Banco Sabadell shareholders. This is a very important milestone that also underlines the solidity and solvency of this project," said BBVA Chairman Carlos Torres in a statement.
"The merger of Banco Sabadell and BBVA creates a stronger and more profitable entity, which will have an additional capacity to grant credit to families and companies of 5,524 million dollars per year. We hope to receive the remaining authorisations according to the planned schedule and to move forward with the most attractive project in European banking," Torres continued.
The ECB's 'green light' was something expected by the market, as its examination focuses on solvency and prudential criteria. Specifically, the central bank has examined whether the project presented by BBVA will have adequate levels of capital and liquidity and whether it will be able to maintain them over time. It has also examined the governance model and the capacity to generate profits.
Other issues, such as the level of competition in the banking market, have been left out of the ECB's review, and the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) will take this into account in its analysis.
This assessment could imply commitments or conditions that BBVA would have to assume if it wanted to merge Sabadell. Likewise, the Government can also intervene in the process taking into account issues other than competition, such as the general interest, and imposing additional conditions.
Theoretically, with the approval of the ECB, the CNMV could already approve the takeover bid and allow BBVA to open the acceptance period, which could be extended from 15 to 70 days. However, the usual procedure in practice is that the CNMV's approval of the takeover bid does not occur before the CNMC's opinion on the merger.
In any case, if the CNMV's approval comes earlier, the bank can open the acceptance period without needing the CNMC's 'approval', but the body chaired by Cani Fernández conditions the effectiveness of the operation, since BBVA's intention is to acquire 100% of Sabadell and merge both entities.
Last May, BBVA launched a hostile takeover bid for 100% of Banco Sabadell shares after the bank rejected a friendly proposal.
When announcing the operation, the bank estimated that the entire process to obtain all the authorizations would take between six and eight months and that the CNMC would take between five and six months.
The bank is offering Sabadell shareholders the option of exchanging one new share for every 4.83 Sabadell shares. Since announcing the takeover bid, BBVA has received approval for the operation from the competition authorities in several countries where Banco Sabadell is present (United States, France, Portugal and Morocco).
