By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Banco Sabadell plans to hold an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the transfer of its headquarters back to Catalonia from Alicante, the bank said in a statement to the stock market supervisor.
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.
If Sabadell moved, it would be the first big company to return to the region after thousands left in the wake of Catalonia’s failed independence bid in October 2017, including the bank, which moved its headquarters to Alicante.
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.
Sabadell is currently the target of a hostile takeover bid by larger rival BBVA that was valued in April at more than 12 billion euros ($12.64 billion). The deal is opposed by the government.
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.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Inti Landauro and Jan Harvey)
