CaixaBank has completed the final legal formalities required for its merger with Banco de Valencia, with the merger deeds being submitted to the trade registry today. This was the final requirement to complete the merger, after the governing bodies of both institutions approved the tie-up and government authorisation was granted in recent weeks. The merger of Banco de Valencia and CaixaBank is fully effective as of today.
The move sees CaixaBank consolidate its leading position in the Spanish market, making it the largest institution in the regions of Valencia and Murcia, where it has a business volume of 46.2 billion euro and 1.2 million customers.
CaixaBank's Chairman, Isidro Fainé, reiterated the bank's commitment to the regions of Valencia and Murcia, representing "a priority area with which we have a very special connection". The merger will help to "reinforce the principles of leadership, reliability and social commitment on which CaixaBank founds its financial operations, and will support its main hallmark, the Welfare Projects run by "la Caixa". Acquisitions are not only a means of gaining market share. They also bring cultures together and are mutually enriching, allowing us to discover new talent, stimulate fresh enthusiasm and improve our regional balance, thus helping us to achieve sustainable growth", he added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman and CEO of CaixaBank, Juan María Nin, emphasised that "the merger has been completed in record time, ensuring optimal service for our customers". The success of the operation has been founded on hard work and thorough planning, with more than 2,198 actions being identified, which will be completed once the operating and technological platforms are fully merged later this month. "The move has allowed us to grow in a very important market".
25,000 new shareholders
Under the merger agreement approved by each institution, there will be a swap of 1 CaixaBank share for every 479 Banco de Valencia shares. A total of 4,669 million shares are expected to participate in the swap. Meanwhile, a maximum of 9.74 million CaixaBank shares will be required to complete the exchange, for which CaixaBank will use shares held in treasury stock, meaning no increase in share capital. The former Banco de Valencia shareholders that acquire CaixaBank shares as a result of the merger will be able to freely trade said shares on Spanish stock markets as of the next market trading day, Monday 22 July.
The shares will carry the same rights as those held by other CaixaBank shareholders, and will benefit from CaixaBank's shareholder remuneration policies, with quarterly remuneration and the option of choosing cash or share payment under the scrip dividend program, where applicable. 2013 gross shareholder remuneration is expected to stand at 20 euro cents per share, meaning a dividend yield of 7.9% (based on the share price at the market close on 12 July).
This operation will see approximately 25,000 former Banco de Valencia shareholders join the CaixaBank shareholder structure, representing 0.2% of share capital. Following the operation, the total number of CaixaBank shareholders will stand at nearly 750,000.
The bank has planned a series of events and presentations for the last quarter of the year, in which it will provide a first-hand details of the company and explain the benefits of being a CaixaBank shareholder, as part of the CaixaBank with its Shareholders' programme.
The corporate image change gets underway
This morning work began to change the outdoor signage on Banco de Valencia branches in the provinces of Castellón and Valencia and on the Banco de Murcia branches in the Murcia region. CaixaBank expects to have completed this work by the end of July.
In the region of Murcia, CaixaBank has decided to retain the Banco de Murcia brand, based on the deep roots and significance that the brand has in the region. Thus, all branches initially belonging to said bank (45), as well as the existing CaixaBank branches in the region (118), will as of today feature the Banco de Murcia brand alongside the CaixaBank star logo.
In Valencia (143 branches) and in Castellón (27 branches), the new corporate brand image retains the original Banco de Valencia name alongside the CaixaBank star, to demonstrate the bank's commitment to traditional customers, families and businesses in the region.
Longer opening hours and more services for customers
Banco de Valencia customers will now benefit from longer bank opening hours. Thanks to the merger, Banco de Valencia branches will now open Monday to Friday from 8.15am to 2pm, while from October to April they will also open on Thursdays from 4:30pm to 7:45pm.
Furthermore, Banco de Valencia customers can already use CaixaBank's more than 6,000 branches located across Spain and the country's largest network of cash machines, comprising more than 10,000 ATMs. The significant cost and revenue synergies generated by the merger will mean better service quality for customers and a wider range of products and financing options.
CaixaBank's leading position in technological innovation will also benefit Banco de Valencia customers. CaixaBank is committed to applying pioneering innovation in new banking channels: its online banking service is the leader in Spain with more than 8.8 million customers, while more than 3 million people use its mobile banking platform and the bank's financial applications have been downloaded over 5 million times.
CaixaBank has won numerous awards as a pioneer in technological innovation. These include the recent Euromoney award for "Best Retail Bank for Technology". CaixaBank is the first bank anywhere in the world to win this prize, for which it competed against banks from every country.
