He returns to Catalonia. The entity of Catalan origin has informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that this Wednesday it plans to hold an extraordinary board of directors in which it will discuss the possibility of once again having its registered office in the autonomous community more than seven years after the bank decided to move its headquarters to Alicante in the middle of the process independence movement, which culminated in the referendum of October 1, 2017 and the unilateral declaration of independence. It is the first large Ibex 35 company to make this decision, which comes to try to suture the tear that the flight of companies meant for Catalan society, with Catalonia already immersed in a new political stage and the socialist Salvador Illa (PSC) at the in front of the Generalitat. The moment also has an economic reading, as well as a political one, since it comes in the middle of a crisis, which would foreseeably mean moving the bank’s headquarters and decision-making center outside of Catalonia.
If this step is confirmed, Sabadell’s return will be the largest and most symbolic return to date. At the moment, only four companies that went process They have once again located their headquarters in Catalonia: Aguas de Barcelona did so in 2018, Red Points in 2023 and Laboratorios Ordesa y Cementos Molins last year. Sources from the banking entity explain that it is still too early to explain how this decision has been forged, but everything indicates that the reasons follow in the wake of the previous companies that have decided to return: they return because in Catalonia there is now greater legal certainty than before and In the case of Sabadell, due to the context of the takeover bid.
Both the previous Government, of Pere Aragonès (ERC), and the current one, which Illa has presided over since the regional elections last year, have tried to create an attractive framework for companies to decide to return. This theme has also been used in electoral campaigns and in negotiations between parties, especially by Junts, for those who did not want to do so. However, a return like Sabadell’s can contribute to reducing political tension in the community. And it would mean extra pressure for CaixaBank, the leading bank in Catalonia and in the entire Spanish market, to also debate a possible return to Barcelona.
The plan involves relocating the bank’s headquarters in Sabadell, although its operational center is located in Sant Cugat del Valles. Sabadell decided in October 2017, after the referendum of October 1, to move its headquarters to Alicante. He chose that change of address in full processtaking advantage of the fact that the bank had acquired CAM in 2011, in the midst of the financial crisis. The Valencian Community is, after Catalonia, the entity’s second market.
Precisely, sources from the Valencian Generalitat explain that the president, Carlos Mazón, spoke on Tuesday afternoon with the president of Sabadell, Josep Oliu, and the CEO, César González Bueno, who have conveyed to him the intention of taking his headquarters outside the Valencian Community. The Valencian Generalitat points out that it respects the decision, and points out that the directors have guaranteed Mazón that the entity’s commitment to this territory remains “intact.” “The absolute priority for the Consell is to guarantee the maintenance of employment and the business of this financial institution in our territory, as well as the flow of credit to consumers, SMEs and industries and this has been requested of the representatives of Banco Sabadell,” sources point out.
After the illegal referendum, in the following two months. Among the large listed companies are CaixaBank, Naturgy, Inmobiliaria Colonial and Cellnex. Grifols, then headed by Víctor Grífols, was the only one that did not hesitate at any time to have its tax domicile outside of Catalonia.
In the midst of the hostile takeover
The movement, advanced by ABC and confirmed by banking sources, is especially relevant at a time when BBVA is trying to acquire Sabadell through a hostile takeover bid. The operation has provoked frontal rejection from the entire political spectrum and business organizations. From Barcelona, the takeover is seen as another loss of importance as an economic hub in Spain. There is also concern about the reduction in competition, in an area where the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has warned of the high concentration that the transaction would entail, mainly in SMEs. This could cause a reduction in access to credit for a multitude of small and medium-sized companies that make up the industrial and business fabric in Catalonia.
All of this has led the CNMC to subject the transaction to a stricter analysis, known as the second phase. In this framework, the Catalan Competition Authority has expressed to this body a forceful rejection of the transaction. The resolution in principle will not imply an outright rejection of the transaction and will likely arrive in the month of March. The Government must endorse those conditions imposed by Competition, so that it can expand them in such a way that the operation no longer makes sense for BBVA. Maintaining the bank’s Catalan identity could be among the issues to be discussed.
In any case, the decision to return the headquarters takes the takeover purely to the political field. If the transaction is successful, this would mean a sort of new departure for Sabadell from Catalonia, since the bank’s headquarters would move to Bilbao. However, the center of power of BBVA – which is the amalgamation of Basque entities such as Banco Bilbao and Vizcaya, but also Argentaria – has long been far from the Basque Country and is located in the La Vela building, in the Madrid neighborhood of Las Tablas.
Sabadell’s return to Catalonia will force BBVA to decide whether it considers that, even if it buys the bank, it maintains a certain autonomy, with its headquarters in the Barcelona city at least on paper. During recent months, the president of BBVA, Carlos Torres, has carried out a turned by the centers of Catalan business and financial power. Its objective was to express that the bank, which already has an important presence in the region, is as Catalan as it is Basque or Madrid.
Reactions
After learning of the decision of the entity chaired by Oliu, CaixaBank has assured that it is not studying his return to Barcelona. “Our headquarters are in Valencia on an indefinite basis” and that scenario “is not under review,” sources from the entity have told EFE.
CaixaBank decided to move its headquarters outside of Catalonia on October 6, 2017, one day after Sabadell took that same path.
In addition to the reaction of the Mazón Executive, the Valencian autonomous employers’ association (CEV) admits that it dislikes the decision of Banco Sabadell to establish its headquarters again in Catalonia, after more than seven years in Alicante and warns that it represents “a significant loss ” for the Valencian Community, reports Efe.
In the words of its president, Salvador Navarro, the CEV claims to understand that the decision “responds to a business strategy motivated by the current context.” And he adds: “It is important to remember that the entity moved its headquarters to Alicante at a time of high political and economic instability in Catalonia, seeking a more stable environment that would favor its operations and the trust of its clients and investors. Now, with an apparent improvement in stability conditions in Catalonia, the bank has decided to reverse that decision.”
