Banco Sabadell shareholders unanimously backed the sale of its UK subsidiary TSB to Banco Santander at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday. Analysts have said that it is part of a defensive move to try to stop BBVA’s around €15 billion hostile takeover bid.
The TSB deal, valued at a minimum of £2.65 billion, represents a notable gain against the acquisition price. In 2015, Sabadell bought TSB for £1.7 billion, equivalent today to around €1.95 billion.
The sale would allow Sabadell to focus on the Spanish market, ‘where the bank has a greater growth capacity’, Chairman Josep Oliu told shareholders before the vote.
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 last year made a hostile takeover bid for Sabadell in shares that originally valued Sabadell at 12 billion euros. That value has increased to about 15 billion euros as the banks’ share prices have diverged since the offer was first made. ALSO READ: BBVA to proceed with Sabadell takeover bid, despite government’s conditions.
While Sabadell’s management opposed the deal from the beginning, Spain’s anti-trust regulator approved the deal with some minor remedies and the government imposed as a condition that the two banks had to remain separate for at least three years. ALSO READ: Spanish government says BBVA must keep Sabadell separate for 3 years as takeover condition.
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Sabadell aprueba la venta de TSB, su filial británica, al Banco Santander por un importe de 3.100 millones de euros https://t.co/rscwNdtsL3 pic.twitter.com/fAJbLhv4e1
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) August 6, 2025
#JuntaAccionistas2025 | Josep Oliu, presidente de @BancoSabadell: “La venta de @TSB es beneficiosa para @BancoSabadell y para sus #Accionistas.
— Banco Sabadell (@BancoSabadell) August 6, 2025
Además, estratégicamente tiene todo el sentido: permite que nos centremos en España”https://t.co/El6RyKCXl1 #SomosSabadell pic.twitter.com/DcSV7beyQc
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