BNP Paribas CEO dampens hopes for European bank M&A revival

By Jerry  Published On May 14, 2024
PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) – The boss of the euro zone’s most valuable lender BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), opens new tab on Tuesday played down expectations for a revival of M&A activity in European banking, saying the economics of cross-border and even some domestic deals rarely made sense.
Jean-Laurent Bonnafe’s comments to BNP’s annual shareholder meeting comes after Spain’s BBVA (BBVA.MC), opens new tab last week launched a hostile 12.2 billion euro ($13.20 billion) takeover bid for domestic peer Sabadell (SABE.MC), opens new tab, and after French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Europe needed more banking consolidation.
“If you’re not a domestic player, you can’t buy a player like Sabadell… There’s no way that a non-Spanish bank could position itself as a white knight in a situation like this,” Bonnafe said in response to a question about whether BNP would consider buying Sabadell.
Cross-border banking deals in Europe are rare. Hurdles include differing regulations and labour laws, the lack of a euro zone-wide deposit insurance scheme and politics.
Source: REUTER

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