(Bloomberg) — CaixaBank is not looking to do acquisitions, after failing to acquire a Portuguese rival, Chief Executive Officer Gonzalo Gortazar said.
“We do not need to do M&A, we love markets in which we operate, Spain and Portugal I think are the most attractive market in Europe,” Gortazar said in a Bloomberg TV interview with Kriti Gupta, Guy Johson and Anna Edwards on Wednesday. “We see growth, we have a lot of opportunities and hence M&A is not part of the picture.”
Earlier this year, the Spanish lender lost out in a bid to acquire the Portuguese lender Novo Banco SA after Lone Star decided to sell its majority stake in the bank to France’s BPCE, for a valuation of around €6.4 billion ($7.4 billion).
CaixaBank is the market leader in Spain, but unlike its two main rivals, Banco Santander SA and BBVA SA, who have large operations in several countries, CaixaBank’s only presence outside the country is in Portugal.
“Currently there are no synergies and a lot of complexities in undertaking major cross border consolidation, so we are very happy to stick with our two very attractive markets in Iberia,” Gortazar said.
Both Santander and BBVA are currently involved in deal processes. Santander recently announced it was selling its Polish operations and soon after said it would acquire TSB in the UK from Banco Sabadell SA, another Spanish lender. At the same time, BBVA is trying to acquire Sabadell through an unsolicited approach.
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