Finance
BBVA’s Hostile Bid for Sabadell Collides With Spanish Politics
- Government has final say on the offer, minister says
- Regional Catalan elections on Sunday raise the stakes on deal
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Spain’s dramatic intervention to oppose Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA’s hostile bid for Catalan lender Banco de Sabadell SA is blurring the lines between politics and business mere days before a regional election in Catalonia.
The government has the final say on the deal and is against the “form and substance” of how Spain’s second-largest bank, located in the Basque part of northern Spain, intends to absorb its smaller rival, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said in an interview with state television broadcaster TVE on Thursday.