Business protests BBVA's takeover bid for Sabadell in a letter to Pedro Sánchez

BarcelonaThe offensive against BBVA's takeover bid for Banc Sabadell, which took place a year ago, is growing. Several Catalan business entities—the thirteen chambers of commerce, the employers' associations Foment del Treball, Pimec, Pimec Autónomos, and Cecot, Fira de Barcelona, ​​​​Barcelona Global, FemCat, the RACC, and the College of Economists—have sent a letter to the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, in which they ask him to stop the operation, which has already passed the filter of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC).

In the three-page document, these organizations state that, beyond technical considerations, there are also reasons of public interest that would justify not proceeding with the merger between the two banking entities. In the midst of the from a popular consultation unprecedented for a bank merger that the Ministry of Economy has opened until the 16th, they affirm that "Spain also needs banks that are close to companies, especially smaller projects, and that find their competitive advantages in their in-depth knowledge of the business and social fabric. In our opinion," they continue, "the general interest of Spain includes the availability of channels for business segments and social groups."

Carta de les entitats empresarials catalanes a Pedro Sánchez

Catalan economic stakeholders, who are also launching a campaign to call on businesses and citizens to participate in the consultation launched by the Spanish government, emphasize that the planned integration would entail "an estimated loss of between €54 billion and €70 billion in available credit." They also warn of the risk of a "greater concentration of economic, financial, and business power in a single geographic location," which "could distort the social and territorial cohesion demanded by Spanish society and the economy." At the same time, they emphasize that "an autonomous Banco Sabadell, perhaps allied with other peninsular financial institutions with effective decision-making centers in Barcelona, ​​Alicante, Palma, Málaga, or A Coruña, would guarantee social and territorial balance for the country as a whole."

Financial decision centers

They also emphasize that, aside from competition considerations, endorsed by a unanimous resolution of the CNMC last week, it would mean "a reduction of financial decision-making centers to communities far from the peninsular center," which "would directly impact their availability of talent in the sector, as it would reduce the ability to attract and retain profiles." In the letter, they state that "the promise of maintaining a dual corporate headquarters (in Madrid and Sabadell) would be more symbolic than real, especially in the long term, as shown by the experiences of Santander and Bilbao in relation to the banks that had their origins there."

The entities defend arguments that they consider sufficiently valid to conclude that the transaction between BBVA and Sabadell would be detrimental to the general interest of Spain. Firstly, an excessive concentration of corporate and financial power must be avoided. They also outline the need to preserve a channel of credit and specialized financial services for smaller companies and projects, and to prevent the loss of jobs and bank branches, with the resulting increased risk of financial exclusion. "By preserving Banco Sabadell's individuality, we preserve the existence of a credit market for new projects and smaller companies, vital to the Spanish economy as a whole, and especially in those areas where they have a greater presence, as well as a range of specialized services resulting from extensive experience."

The letter acknowledges that competition in a globalized world will require strengthening strategic sectors. One of these is finance, which will require groups "at least large on a European scale," and therefore mergers and integrations will be necessary. But this, they affirm, is a path that must be followed "with prudence and balance, so that excessive concentrations of economic and corporate power do not occur in one or two large economies, but rather so that decision-making centers are reasonably distributed among the different countries." And they transfer this to the case of Spain, where "the concentration of economic and business power, especially in strategic and highly regulated sectors in which the intervention of the Spanish government is decisive" and "has important counterparts."

The entities emphasize that the disappearance of Banc Sabadell would weaken the talent and innovation ecosystem in territories such as Catalonia, which would harm connections between universities, business schools and the financial sector. The letter is signed by the presidents of all the entities: Ramon Agenjo (Barcelona Global), Josep Santacreu (Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Council of Chambers), Xavier Panés (Cecot), Carles Puig de Travy (College of Economists), Oriol Guixà (FemCat), Pau Relat (Feria de Barcelona) Cañete (Pimec) and Josep Mateu (RACC).