BBVA: ends merger talks with Banco Sabadell

(CercleFinance.com) - Spanish bank BBVA and rival Banco Sabadell said on Friday that they have halted their merger talks that they started earlier this month as they have failed to agree on terms.


In a regulatory filing, BBVA said the discussions regarding a potential merger have come to an end "without having reached an agreement".

In a seperate statement, Sabadell said its board of directors has decided to terminate the talks because the parties could not agree "on the exchange ratio of both entities."

Sabadell instead will launch a new strategy with a clear focus on its domestic market, it said.

"Rumours had arisen in recent days, mentioning divergences on the price to be paid by BBVA to take over Sabadell," analysts at Invest Securities in Paris explained this morning.

The deal came amid a broader concentration wave in the Spanish banking industry, as Caixabank and Bankia merger deal is set to create Spain's biggest lender.

There was a varied reaction for the two banks - Sabadell shares dropped over 10% on the news in Madrid on Friday morning, while the BBVA stock was up nearly 2%.

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