By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s BBVA said on Thursday its hostile takeover bid for smaller rival Sabadell failed as it could not secure at least 30% of its voting rights as part of a 16 billion euro ($18.70 billion) takeover deal.
The failure put an end to an almost 18-month attempt by BBVA to acquire its smaller rival. It’s a blow for BBVA Chair Carlos Torres, the architect of the offer, though he has said he would not resign if it failed.
“At BBVA, we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm,” he said in a video on Thursday after acknowledging the bid’s failure.
Shares in BBVA in the U.S. rose around 7% following the failure of the bid.
BBVA needed to secure support from owners of more than 50% of Sabadell, though it could have lowered the threshold to 30%.
Shareholders of Sabadell tendered just 25.47% of voting rights, data from the market supervisor showed, below even the lower threshold where it could have decided to move on if it had waived the control condition.
BBVA first made its move on Sabadell in April 2024, and the bid turned hostile a month later in what has become one of the most bitter M&A battles in Spain in recent years.
That bid sparked a wave of government opposition and warnings about job losses, leading to a months-long competition review. Eventually, the government intervened and imposed conditions on the deal, blocking BBVA from merging fully with Sabadell for at least three years.
BBVA aimed to become one of the largest lenders in Europe, with about 1 trillion euros in assets to refocus on its home market after years of rapid expansion abroad.
($1 = 0.8557 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro and Lisa Shumaker)