By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) – The board of Spain’s Banco Sabadell will on Wednesday discuss moving its headquarters back to Catalonia, having cited the bank’s importance to the regional economy as a reason for investors to reject a hostile bid from rival BBVA (BME:BBVA).
Sabadell moved its headquarters to Alicante amid the uncertainty caused by Catalonia’s independence bid in 2017. Had Catalonia seceded from Spain, banks in the region would no longer have been supervised by the European Central Bank, whose deposit insurance scheme protects bank customers.
In a statement to the market supervisor, Sabadell said its board planned to hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss the potential move.
On Tuesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter said the board would propose moving its headquarters back to the Catalan town of Sabadell.
“As soon as the board of directors has passed a resolution in this regard (the supervisor) will be duly notified,” the lender said on Wednesday.
Sabadell did not give a reason for the plan. However, it has cited its importance to the Catalan economy in its defence against BBVA, which in April launched a hostile takeover bid then worth more than 12 billion euros ($12.6 billion).
In November, Spain’s competition watchdog said BBVA’s all-share offer had to undergo a longer antitrust review that could extend the process well into 2025.
The deal is opposed by the Spanish government, which has said a tie-up would potentially harm Spain’s financial system, and impact jobs and customers.
“This is another move in a chess game to gain favour or political support,” said Nuria Alvarez, an analyst at Madrid-based brokerage Renta 4.
At 1025 GMT, Sabadell shares were little changed.
If Sabadell returned to Catalonia, it would be the first big company to do so after thousands left in the wake of the failed independence bid in October 2017.
One of the sources said there was no reason to stay out of Catalonia as market tensions around independence had eased.
“This decision makes a lot of sense because the normalisation process that has taken place in Catalonia means that the conditions that led to their (Sabadell’s) departure have disappeared,” Economy minister Carlos Cuerpo told the Onda radio station, adding that to his knowledge the matter was not related to BBVA’s bid.
Last year Salvador Illa of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Party became head of the Catalan government, ending more than a decade of separatist rule.
Separatist party Junts, whose support is key to pass legislation, has urged Catalan companies to return to the region.
Catalan lender Caixabank also moved its legal bases to other parts of Spain after the 2017 independence bid.