MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s BBVA expects the acceptance period for its takeover bid for smaller rival Sabadell to start in early September, rather than at the end of July as initially planned, a spokesperson for BBVA said on Monday.
The spokesperson for BBVA said this would allow the bank to include the most up-to-date information in its takeover prospectus such as the outcome of Sabadell’s extraordinary meetings on August 6.
Sabadell shareholders are summoned to vote on the agreed sale of its British unit TSB to Santander and also on the extraordinary 2.5 billion euros ($2.92 billion) cash dividend it plans to distribute among shareholders thanks to the proceeds of the divestment.
The decision to dispose of TSB offers Sabadell a potential defensive play as it seeks to stop BBVA’s over 13 billion euro takeover approach, aimed at creating Spain’s second-biggest bank by credit volume after Caixabank.
A spokesperson for the Spanish stock market supervisor said that it considered as “adequate the proposal put forward by BBVA so that shareholders of Sabadell can have all the information” before deciding whether to tender their shares.
In Spain, legislation requires the governing bodies of a company targeted in a takeover bid to request shareholder approval before promoting or taking any action that might prevent an acquisition from succeeding.
BBVA decided to proceed with the Sabadell bid despite the Spanish government blocking it from fully merging with its smaller rival for at least three years as one of the conditions imposed on the planned transaction.
The takeover prospectus is expected to be approved before the acceptance period, spokespeople for BBVA and the CNMV said.
($1 = 0.8555 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús AguadoEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
