The boards of Bankia and CaixaBank have agreed to merge, which would lead to a behemoth in the Spanish banking sector
Pierre-Philippe Marcou, Gabriel Bouys | AFP
The boards of Spain’s CaixaBank and state-owned Bankia have approved a merger plan between the two lenders, which will create the biggest bank in the country.
The deal terms will see CaixaBank offer 0.6845 of its shares for every Bankia share, according to a release published Friday. The newly created lender, which will keep the CaixaBank brand, will have assets of more than 664 billion euros ($786.7 billion), the companies said.
The merger plan still needs to be approved at the General Shareholders’ Meetings of both companies.
“With this operation, we will become the leading Spanish bank at a time when it is more necessary than ever to create entities with a significant size, thus contributing to supporting the needs of families and companies, and to reinforcing the strength of the financial system,” Bankia Executive Chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri said in a statement.