Spanish savings bank Unicaja Banco is reportedly nearing a deal to acquire rival lender Liberbank – a long-drawn-out takeover as consolidation among financial institutions heat up.
The two Spanish lenders, with the help of advisers, have recommenced informal discussions regarding a deal, Bloomberg reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
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Deutsche Bank is advising Liberbank on a potential deal.
The deal, if implemented, will create the seventh-largest bank in Spain, the report added.
Last year, a deal to combine Unicaja and Liberbank failed after five months of discussions, partly because of differences over shareholding pattern.
Liberbank wanted to own 42% of the combined company; however, Unicaja had demanded a 60% ownership.
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By GlobalDataSeveral issues that have caused the two banks to halt their merger talks are now said to be resolved.
Unicaja and Liberbank, on the insistence of the European Central Bank (ECB), have built up their insolvency buffers in a bid to raise their capital.
A new shareholding structure has been agreed as well, according to Bloomberg.
The latest talks have gathered pace after CaixaBank agreed to acquire rival Bankia, last month.
At a deal valued at €3.8bn ($4.5bn), Bankia’s takeover by CaixaBank created a new entity with a combined market value of about €16.8bn ($19.8bn).
Unicaja has a market value of about €1.03bn ($1.2bn), while Liberbank is valued at about €691m.
Banks in Europe have been preparing for cross-border mergers and deals as they try to recover their profitability.
Last month, Banco Sabadell was also eyeing strategic options in the European banking sector as the merger talks began taking place.
Meanwhile, Italy’s treasury is planning to find a buyer by the end of this year for troubled lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS).
Italy had approached UniCredit’s executives to find out if they are interested in acquiring the government’s majority stake in BMPS.
Italy also considered Banco BPM to be the right fit for acquiring BMPS.
Banco BPM said that it remains ready for further industry consolidation following UBI Banca’s hostile takeover by Intesa Sanpaolo.
In May, HSBC signed a deal with Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW) to take full control of its German unit.
