June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Caja Madrid and Bancaja began a
merger process that would create Spain’s biggest savings bank
amid government efforts to shore up the country’s financial
system.
The boards of the second- and third-biggest savings banks
met yesterday to hear more about steps by Bancaja to join a
project already under way by Caja Madrid to combine with five
other smaller savings banks, the two lenders said in filings to
regulators. The merger would create a lender with about 340
billion euros ($413 billion) in assets, according to their
published accounts.
Spanish savings banks are rushing to combine before a
deadline to tap a government rescue fund expires at the end of
this month. Greece’s sovereign debt crisis has focused attention
on Spain’s public finances and the costs of buttressing
foundation-based lenders, known as “cajas,” which were hobbled
by bad loans following recession and a property crash.
Sabadell: in trattative per possibile takeover di Banco Guipuzcoano MADRID (MF-DJ)--Banco Sabadell ha confermato l'intenzione di acquisire Banco Guipuzcoano nell'ambito del processo di consolidamento del settore bancario in atto in Spagna volto a rispondere agli effetti della recente crisi immobiliare dopo un decennio in forte espansione. Sabadell ha sportelli in tutto il territorio spagnolo e vanta un patrimonio di 82,62 mld euro mentre Guipuzcoano opera principalmente nella regione basca e puo' contare su asset per un valore totale di 10,34 mld euro. red/est/car (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 03:18 ET (07:18 GMT) Copyright (c) 2010 MF-Dow Jones News Srl.