Big U.S. Bank Merger Means Big Smiles All Around
Buying BBVA’s U.S. assets in cash meant PNC didn’t have to pay too high a price. But it’s also a compelling deal for the Spanish seller.
A swift exit.
Photo: Bloomberg
Abandoning the world’s biggest economy isn’t an easy move for any ambitious company executive. But Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA’s retreat from North America — it’s selling the bulk of its commercial lending business there to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. — will give the Spanish bank the chance to reboot after years of languishing by looking closer to home. The deal will also reshape the domestic U.S. banking industry.
PNC will pay $11.6 billion in cash in a deal that will create America’s largest regional bank. The transaction will bolster the U.S. company’s presence in the south of the country, and Texas in particular.