Spanish bank BBVA recently saw one of its biggest backers, GQG Partners, call it quits and sell its stake due to disagreement over a plan to acquire domestic rival Banco Sabadell.
Florida-based GQG did not like the rather aggressive takeover proposal.
In April, BBVA offered Banco Sabadell €12.23 billion ($12.19 billion). About a month later, the bank’s board rejected the bid.
BBVA, undeterred, took its offer straight to Banco Sabadell’s shareholders, going full “hostile takeover” mode.
The Financial Times reported that asset manager GQG, founded in 2016 by billionaire Rajiv Jain, told BBVA’s management that the chase wasn’t worth it, and that Banco Sabadell would water down BBVA’s focus on emerging markets.
By July, GQG had exited BBVA.
BBVA and Banco Sabadell’s back-and-forth has not sat well with the Spanish government. However, the European Central Bank gave the transaction a thumbs-up in September.
The acquisition still requires approval from La Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), Spain’s stock market regulator. The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), Spain’s regulatory body responsible for ensuring fair competition, must also authorize the transaction with a detailed review.
The process will likely be resolved in the first quarter of 2025.
Under Spanish law, the government cannot block a bid. However, it holds the final say on whether a merger proceeds, contingent on the CNMC and CNMV’s approvals.
GQG, BBVA and Sabadell did not respond to requests for comment.
BBVA has been involved in several significant deals over the years, often to expand its presence in international markets. In 2020, BBVA sold its US banking unit to PNC Financial Services Group for $11.6 billion—one of the largest bank deals in the US. The sale was part of BBVA’s strategy to free up capital and refocus on its core markets, especially Spain, Mexico and Turkey. By 2021, the firm made good on that promise when it launched a bid to buy out the remaining shares of Garanti Bank to fully consolidate one of Turkey’s largest banks into its operations.
