BBVA and Telefónica are about to volatilize one of the ties that had been shown to be the strongest within the Ibex 35. The entity chaired by Carlos Torres has just informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that it is reducing its presence in the operator’s capital to just 1.965% from the 5% it had until now. The telecommunications company had also practically left the teleco company.
The movement occurs just a few months after the bank left the board of directors of the teleco, on which it had been present since the 90s, with the departure of the historic José María Abril. At that time, the explanation was that the movement was produced by the turnaround in the capital of the telecom company in recent years, with the increase in the weight of Caixa to 10% and the emergence of the Saudi telecom company STC and the Spanish State through Sepi with another 10% each.
However, BBVA’s participation in Telefónica ceased to be key a long time ago. In its annual accounts it appeared under the heading “available for sale”, in line with the pressure from the European Central Bank (ECB) for banks to divest themselves of their industrial holdings, in businesses that are not linked to the financial sector. After several decades, Torres has finally pressed the sales button.
News in development. There will be expansion
