The Government will approve extending the term for the divestment of the State in CaixaBank by two additional years, as reported last night by the Ministry of Economy in a statement. With this decision, the deadline for the sale of the participation held by the FROB (Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring) in the entity is extended until December 2025.
The Ministry of Economy affirms that "this expansion seeks to ensure greater efficiency in the use of public resources, maximizing the recovery value of the State's participation and thus responding to the ultimate objective of protecting the general interest."
Following the merger by absorption of Bankia by CaixaBank, the FROB obtained a 16.12% stake in the bank's capital. Now, after the share purchase program and the capital reduction approved on Thursday by the entity born in Barcelona but based in Valencia, the State's participation rises to approximately 17.3%.
The FROB is present in the capital of CaixaBank as a result of the fact that this entity acquired Bankia, which had been rescued by the Government during the last financial crisis. The entry into the capital occurred in 2013 with the acquisition, through BFA, of 68.69% of Bankia. Once Bankia was absorbed by CaixaBank and based on the exchange equation that was agreed upon when valuing both entities, the FROB began to have a percentage of CaixaBank. It is that percentage that the State will now maintain until 2025.
By virtue of this participation, the FROB maintains a position on the bank's board of directors chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri and directed by Gonzalo Gortázar. Yesterday bank sources did not make statements.
This will be the fourth extension of the initial sale period that has been carried out. The first was approved in December 2016, the second in 2018 and the last in February 2021, with an extension of the divestment period until December 2023. With the agreement of the Council of Ministers, the current date will be extended until December 2025.
When the aid was granted, the then Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, chose to set a two-year term so as not to harm competition, despite the fact that the European Commission did not want to put a limit on the maximum time that he should remain in the capital of the bank.
The State spent 22,000 million euros to rescue Bankia and 2,400 in BMN, which ended up merging with Bankia. Since then, via dividends, it has recovered about 3,500 million. Considering the market capitalization of CaixaBank, the FROB package is valued at around 4,700 million.
With the measure that the Government is going to approve, the extension of the term of permanence is a way of buying time while waiting for the share to rise and the value of the state participation to be greater. In addition, during the period that the State remains in the bank, it will continue to receive the corresponding benefits.
Precisely this week, CaixaBank completed the share repurchase operation as a shareholder remuneration formula. The mechanism consists in the fact that the bank acquires its own shares in the market and then redeems them. By making them disappear, if the rest of the shareholders do not sell theirs, the percentage it holds automatically increases. The Government will approve extending the State's divestment term in Caixabank by two additional years, as reported by the Ministry of Economy today in a statement . With this decision, the deadline for the sale of the participation held by the FROB (Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring) in the entity is extended until December 2025.
