Oliu's mass appeal to shareholders: "Trusting in Sabadell has its rewards."

SabadellThe musical notes of the campaign We are Sabadell, the flashmob that Banc Sabadell held in 2011 to celebrate its 130th anniversary praising the city where it was founded, flooded the Sabadell Fairgrounds this Thursday afternoon announcing the start of the bank's General Shareholders' Meeting. A musical selection was expected to fill the atmosphere with epic spirit—Sabadell has returned home—and to remind everyone of the importance of the anniversary—BBVA's takeover bid continues to set the agenda, and soon it will be up to the shareholders to make the decision.

"The premium is negative," the president of the Valles-based bank, Josep Oliu, was quick to say, "that is to say, if they were to exchange their shares now for BBVA shares, they would lose out," he repeated. "Now the decision is yours, and it's a matter not just of courage, but of values," he said, addressing a room packed with shareholders who hadn't been able to attend their bank's meeting for seven years—in many cases, "for their entire lives" without traveling to Alicante. The room rose to its feet and erupted in applause after Oliu finished his speech: "I have goosebumps!" could be heard throughout the audience.

The bank's predicted turnout has come to fruition. Nearly a thousand shareholders attended, many of them accompanied by family or friends. "We all came: the siblings, who inherited shares from our parents, and our husbands and wives," said a woman at the entrance. "We've never been here before, but now that they're back home, we've come to support them: we've been Sabadell supporters all our lives," said her sister-in-law.

During the speeches, Josep de Marfà, a long-time member of Catalan SME shareholder meetings, made a significant contribution. A pharmacist, economist, and member of Sabadell's Minority Shareholders, he emphasized the bank's recovery in recent years and the fact that they have returned to Catalonia. "One of my great-grandfathers, a Jew from Segovia who came to Catalonia, began speaking Catalan within two or three months and bought shares in Banc Sabadell; he saw that if he wanted to start a business, he needed these two things," he explained. "When the shares started to plummet, it looked like they were going to zero, but when they were at 0.25, yours truly started buying en masse, and today they're at 2.75 euros. Trusting in Sabadell has its rewards," he said to applause.

Also speaking was Jordi Casas, president of the Sabadell Minority Shareholders Association, who called for "a vote of confidence in the board so they don't give up in the face of BBVA's takeover bid." He also stated that today "is a day of joy: we were able to hold the meeting in Sabadell, because the bank has returned home and has done so to reaffirm its identity." Oliu was brief about the bank's identity: "We, among Spanish banks, are the Catalan bank, and despite having been in Alicante for seven years, we have remained a Catalan bank," Oliu asserted.

Finally, a note. "Today, with these good results and the return to Sabadell, would have been a very good time to offer us a cocktail," one of the shareholders asked Oliu, who acknowledged the comment to laughter from the audience and made a note of it as homework for the next meeting: "So don't worry, you're guaranteed!" he replied.