A major shareholder of the Spain-based bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, or BBVA (ES:BBVA), has divested its entire stake due to the bank’s choice to initiate a hostile takeover bid for its regional competitor Banco Sabadell (ES:SAB). According to the Financial Times, GQG Partners was among the top five shareholders in BBVA but fully exited its investment in the bank by July 2024. GQG felt the Sabadell bid would take too much time and attention and would reduce its investment in emerging markets.
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Sabadell and BBVA are two of the top banks in Spain, providing a full range of financial services.
BBVA Stays Committed to Sabadell Takeover Efforts
BBVA initially submitted a takeover bid for Sabadell in April 2024, which was rejected by Sabadell. Later on, BBVA launched a hostile takeover attempt by directly approaching Sabadell’s shareholders. Earlier in November 2020, the two banks were unable to reach an agreement on a merger due to financial arrangements.
BBVA previously stated that this merger would form a leading financial institution in Europe, with more than €1 trillion in assets and over 100 million customers globally. However, the takeover has faced strong opposition from the Sabadell board and the Spanish government.
Meanwhile, BBVA is still eager to pursue the deal and plans to make a formal offer to Sabadell’s shareholders by the end of 2024. Earlier this month, BBVA announced that it had modified its takeover offer for Sabadell to include interim dividend payments from both banks to their shareholders. BBVA is now offering one newly issued ordinary share for every 5.0196 ordinary shares of Sabadell, along with a cash payment of €0.29 per share. BBVA initially offered one new share for every 4.83 Sabadell shares in April.
Is BBVA a Good Investment?
According to TipRanks, BBVA stock has a Moderate Buy rating based on four Buy and three Hold recommendations. The BBVA share price forecast is €11.27, which is 22.15% above the current price level.
