Spanish lenders Liberbank and Unicaja have terminated their merger negotiations after failing to agree on the structure of the combined business.
The two firms confirmed the termination through separate filings to the Spanish securities regulator.
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The merger, if completed, would have created the sixth largest lender in Spain with $108bn in assets.
Reuters quoted Unicaja Banco as saying: “The parties have not reached a agreement on the possible share swap, so the board of Unicaja Banco unanimously decided to end the negotiations.”
However, both the banks did not provide further details on the disagreement.
Unicaja, the larger lender among the two, was eyeing a bigger stake in the combined bank. It aimed to hold around 60% stake, while Liberbank was expected to own the remaining interest, analysts told the news agency.
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By GlobalDataThe decision comes when the Bank of Spain have advocated consolidations and mergers in the banking industry to boost profitability and efficiency.
Several Spanish lenders have also resorted to trimming branch network and reducing workforce to reduce costs.
Earlier this week, another Spanish lender Santander was reported to be planning to shutter 1,150 branches in the country. It has also planned to reduce domestic workforce by 11%.
Another lender Caixabank is set to reduce domestic workforce by 6%.
In the last decade, following the economic crisis, the number of banks in Spain fell from more than 55 to 12.
