On the day that Banco Sabadell presented record results for the first half of the year, BBVA’s chairman, Carlos Torres was trying to build bridges with the president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón who has repeatedly expressed his concern publicly about the impact of the takeover bid that the La Vela entity launched last May to acquire the Vallesan group.
Both leaders have held a meeting on Tuesday afternoon private meeting about two hours long in the office of the Valencian president, during which they had the opportunity to discuss the operation and the consequences it would have on the territory of the community if it finally went ahead, according to sources familiar with the meeting told EL MUNDO.
Banco Sabadell is the second largest bank in the Valencian Community and both Mazón and business representatives in the region are concerned about the effects that the takeover bid and subsequent merger could have on competition in their provinces.
This meeting was planned weeks ago and took place after several telephone conversations that both executives have been having since BBVA’s interest in Sabadell was made official. According to the same sources consulted, the conversation took place in a “clear, transparent and sincere” manner and during the course of the conversation, Mazón had the opportunity to convey to Carlos Torres his intention to defend the interests of the Valencian Community in all matters that could be affected by the takeover bid and the hypothetical merger.
Both leaders have agreed to maintain an open and direct channel of communication that will allow them to continue talking when the occasion requires it in connection with the aforementioned operation.
The meeting with Mazón was not the only one that Torres has held today in Valencian territory, as the BBVA chairman has also had the opportunity to meet with business representatives from the region who have also expressed their concerns and worries about the impact of a possible takeover of Sabadell.
With these meetings, Torres is repeating the pattern he followed at the beginning of June, when he travelled discreetly to Barcelona to meet with representatives of the Catalan business community and with the current president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, to discuss the implications of the takeover bid in that territory.
The rejection by part of the political and business world of BBVA’s hostile move towards Sabadell is one of the risks that Torres and the bank of Basque origin have been dealing with since the beginning of the process. However, the most forceful rejection has come from Moncloa, which has warned Torres on several occasions that the “last word” on the merger, in case the takeover bid goes ahead, lies with the Government.