The takeover bid for Banc Sabadell as seen by ARA readers

BarcelonaIt was the great economic upheaval in Catalonia in 2024 and, no matter how it turns out, it will be one of the big news stories of 2025. BBVA's takeover bid for Banc Sabadell, which poses an existential threat to Catalonia's fourth-largest company, is a story that has followed ARA readers for the past twelve months.Companies We wanted to take a chronological look at this hectic year, looking at our readers' comments. This is the movie of the year as you saw it.

The Shock

It was April 29, 2024, when British news channel Sky News broke the exclusive: BBVA was negotiating to buy Banc Sabadell. It was the second attempt after the 2020 fiasco, and it set off alarm bells in Catalonia: the attempt came just days before the Catalan elections (held on May 12), and all parties quickly spoke out against it.

Readers, in those first hours, were already expressing some of the concerns that businesspeople and analysts have been raising over the months, such as the risk of excessive concentration in a sector as crucial as banking.

@xabugi was clear: "Terrible news!!! The current banking concentration should even be illegal! Without competition, citizens and small businesses will be left in the hands of the banks... Governments should also be there to monitor these things and the common good!!!" Along the same lines, @llullo expressed himself thus: "These are all concentration movements in which only short-term profit counts. The lack of banking competition puts customers at their feet."

Other voices were quick to figure out the meaning of the word. fusion, which masks a reality in which one company swallows another, disappearing. "Bad deal for Sabadell; it won't be a merger, but a takeover. We Catalans will be forced to expand Caixa Ingenieros," wrote @baetulo.

The response

On May 6, Banc Sabadell responded to BBVA's proposal, formalized before the CNMV, with a resounding no. The board of the Catalan bank, then headquartered in Alicante, met in Madrid to discuss the proposal, a momentous decision that, according to the law, should respond exclusively to the interests of the shareholders.

Sabadell's refusal, which was not unanimous (there was one abstention), unleashed a phenomenon not seen in Catalonia in the last fifteen years: citizens publicly expressed their support and affection for a bank and its bankers. In this case, for Sabadell and its president, Josep Oliu. A reflection of this appeared in the comments on the day's news in the ARA newspaper.

"As the holder of an account at Banc Sabadell, I would like to express my personal rejection of the fact that the entity is the subject of any transaction [...]. I would like to express my confidence in its president, Josep Oliu," wrote @JAR that same afternoon. "Sabadell has given us joy over the last year, its share price has doubled... This is what matters," added @Molalamola. "From Sabadell: Pep, don't let up, he's worth more on his own than Spanish," wrote user @Eselquesemblaquehiha.

Readers, once again, were moving faster than the news, and one reader, Miquel Àngel Fernández González, warned of what the next chapter in the series could be. "Despite having its headquarters outside of Catalonia, Banc Sabadell maintains a Catalan decision-making core that cannot be lost under any circumstances. BBVA should focus on improving its profitability, not on a potential hostile takeover," he said.

That risk, indeed, was about to occur.

Hostile attack

Thursday, May 8th. In the early hours of the morning, before the markets opened, BBVA responded to Banc Sabadell's refusal by crossing the Rubicon and launching a hostile takeover bid. It had been 40 years since there had been one in Spanish banking. In Catalan business circles and power circles, the news fell like a bucket of cold water: shareholders would have to decide on the possible disappearance of Catalonia's second-largest financial institution, a dangerous scenario considering that half of the ownership of the Sabadell-born entity is in the hands of investment funds.

The announcement, just four days before the elections, unleashed fierce opposition across the political spectrum and among the vast majority of employers' associations and unions, which had already spoken out against the agreed-upon transaction. Readers of this newspaper responded at the time with a certain degree of belligerence.

"Catalonia has no Catalan banks. Historically, the system has boycotted all banks based in Catalonia," lamented @josepmaria1. "If Sabadell hadn't left, we would now be closing BBVA accounts and opening them for Sabadell, but now it's just another Valencian bank that we're losing," said @XAT BCN. "Obviously, everyone is free to do what they want. Now, there are ways and ways. And there's malice here," said @Ignasi Utset. "This is a declaration of hostility through and through, and these people at BBVA already have enough to offer, having swallowed up all the Catalan savings banks," said Paco Sempere Pascual.

Once again, readers unanimously sided with Banc Sabadell, as @Quim wrote: "I hope it goes badly for them. With people this arrogant and hostile, you can't be a shareholder." Along the same lines, @ltram expressed his regret: "Sad news, regardless of whether the bank is Catalan or not. Without competition, the most affected are the users."

Another reader, who identifies himself as @Josep 2, put BBVA under scrutiny: "The need for a merger seems imperative for BBVA, which continues to try despite everything, out of time due to the elections and with bad manners. What problems does it see coming to its Mexican and Turkish markets?"

Competition, threatened

The summer months arrived with record quarterly results for both BBVA and Banc Sabadell. The Biscayan bank also received moral support from its shareholders for the takeover bid for Sabadell. And it was in this context that attention shifted to the regulatory bodies.

At the beginning of July, and while Catalan employers' associations reaffirmed their opposition to the takeover bid, @Observant wrote: "The takeover of Sabadell would be a disaster for the financial ecosystem of Catalan SMEs." Weeks later, along the same lines, Josep Pujol Vila wrote that "the reduction of banks, and consequently also of branches, will always be detrimental to good customer service. Let's hope BBVA doesn't leave." User @lluigi publicly asked the question: "Where are the antitrust laws to prevent such an outrage? There's no need to crunch the numbers."

In September, José Portell Muñoz left a comment in which he focused on the inevitable layoffs that would follow the merger, and which different sources placed at around 5,000 employees: "Those who will be harmed are not only the shareholders, but also the thousands of workers who will be laid off. We reflect," six.

The great return

Starting in the fall, BBVA suffered a string of bad news for its interests. Initially, there was Trump's victory, which predicted problems for the Mexican economy, which was heavily dependent on exports to the US. Later, there was the Competition Authority's decision not to approve the merger in the first phase, which was a triumph for Banc Sabadell: on the one hand, it reaffirmed its thesis that the transaction poses a competition problem; on the other, BBVA had assured institutional funds and shareholders that the transaction would be resolved by the end of 2024. The Competition Authority's decision postponed everything, at least until spring.

But Sabadell was preparing a dramatic takeover bid that took place at the end of January: the return of its headquarters to Catalonia after seven years. The announcement sparked a wave of optimism and congratulations at the bank chaired by Oliu, and also, among the most critical readers, harsh comments about the 2017 decision to leave. Francesc Usach Farnós expressed himself thus in a comment: "It means that this decision unexpected "Doesn't this have anything to do with the BBVA takeover bid? Experience tells me that banks only make decisions based on their own interests."

On that January 21st, among other criticisms of Sabadell, a reader left this reflection: "I am an example of BS, due to the purchase of my previous club, and I am pleased to say that all those who criticize Sabadell's return don't know half of what they're talking about [...]. Mr. Oliu, yes sir, with two pairs of noses. And congratulations."

ARA readers have largely expressed their rejection of the takeover bid, but it is not a unanimous view. The BBVA takeover bid, which absorbed six of the ten former Catalan savings banks in a demonstration of its confidence in the Catalan economy (Santander, for example, did not keep any), has also found its supporters among this newspaper's community. Evidence of this is a comment by Carlos de Hogar criticizing Sabadell: "The leaders of this bank were the driving forces behind the Ciudadanos party [...] We need Catalan financial institutions in the hands of Catalan citizens."

Reader Antoni Trillas also offered a discordant view with the majority: "As the BBVA executive rightly says, this operation will be decided by the shareholders. As a former Sabadell employee and current shareholder, I just want to point out that for several years we have been receiving a dividend from Sabadell. 1. On the other hand, I immediately remember 2."

Another commentator, Jordi Sans Tarragó, referred to the size of both banks: "I feel bad for the discontent, but BBVA is a much bigger bank than Banc Sabadell. I hope and pray that the takeover bid goes through and that there is a proper bank, BBVA, that makes money."

The next chapters will be strongly influenced by the imminent resolution of the Competition Authority, which should be announced this week, and the possibility that the government will intervene to prevent a merger. Theoretically, all of this should be resolved this summer, but some voices, the most in favor of Sabadell continuing alone, believe that all of this could be postponed until September.