Spanish Stock Market Regulator to Wait for Competition Review Before Decision on BBVA's Bid for Sabadell

By Elena Vardon

The Spanish stock market regulator said it will wait for the competition authority's review of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's bid for smaller peer Banco de Sabadell before deciding whether to green-light the deal.

The CNMV aims to ensure that Sabadell shareholders can decide whether or not to accept the offer in a free and informed manner, the watchdog's president Rodrigo Buenaventura said Tuesday.

BBVA went hostile in May in its more than $12 billion pursuit of Sabadell, a transaction that would create one of the biggest lenders in the eurozone, after it encountered opposition from the management of the smaller rival.

Last month, BBVA said the European Central Bank wouldn't oppose a Sabadell takeover, but the deal is still pending approval from both Spanish regulators and Sabadell's shareholders. The Spanish government has said the transaction raises concerns.

BBVA had initially estimated that approval from CNMC, the competition regulator, would take up to six months. The timeline could stretch beyond this if the watchdog decides to move into a phase 2 investigation.

The CNMV said it will wait to analyze the CNMC's process and monitor when it would be optimal to move forward.

Buenaventura said the regulator has to weigh the right of Sabadell's shareholders to receive the offer as soon as possible in order to make a decision, with the possibility that the competition conditions imposed are too onerous and change the information shareholders have to form a judgement.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 08, 2024 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)

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