Link Securities | The digital portal Bolsamania.com reported on Friday that 96% of BBVA shareholders gave their approval to the capital increase required for the takeover bid for Banco Sabadell at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on Friday. The quorum at the meeting was 70.75% and the shareholders gave “their firm support to the capital increase necessary to extend our offer to SAB shareholders”, said the chairman of the Basque bank, Carlos Torres.
After the result of the vote was announced, Torres added that with it “the bank is taking a very important step forward in the most attractive project in European banking. We are fully confident in the success of the operation, which is a clear commitment to Spain and its SMEs. The merger with Sabadell will give rise to a stronger and more profitable entity, with greater capacity to accompany families and companies in their future projects”, he said. Specifically, the capital increase will consist of the issue of up to 1,126 million new BBVA shares, which will be delivered to Banco Sabadell shareholders who accept the offer of one BBVA share for every 4.83 Sabadell shares.
The new shares will be issued at a par value of €0.49 plus, if applicable, a share premium, which will be determined on the basis of the difference between the fair value of the Sabadell shares contributed and the par value of the new shares issued.
As this is a capital increase with non-monetary contributions within the framework of a takeover bid, BBVA shareholders do not enjoy pre-emptive subscription rights on the new shares issued under the capital increase. The offer is now subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and acceptance of the offer by SAB shareholders representing a majority of its share capital. Once BBVA acquires a stake of 50.01% or more in SAB, it plans to merge the two entities.
This merger is subject to the relevant regulatory approvals. The transaction will be completed within six to eight months, once the necessary authorisations have been received, according to BBVA. During his speech at the Extraordinary General Meeting, Torres stressed that “BBVA is giving SAB’s shareholders the power to choose once the acceptance process is opened” and “we hope they appreciate the strategic sense of the operation and decide to participate with us in this great project for the future”.
