CaixaBank finalises purchase of Barclays Bank SAU and adds 550,000 new customers to group

• CaixaBank and Barclays Bank PLC completed in Madrid the sale of Barclays Bank SAU today, including the retail banking, asset management and corporate banking business of the British bank in Spain.
• Following the deal, Barclays Bank SAU becomes a new subsidiary of CaixaBank, adding 550,000 customers mainly in retail and private and personal banking, along with a network of 262 branches and close on 2,400 employees.
• The new board of Barclays Bank SAU will be chaired by Juan Alcaraz, with Juan Gandarias as Managing Director.

CaixaBank, under the chairmanship of Isidro Fainé and with Gonzalo Gortázar as its CEO, today completed the deal with Barclays Bank PLC for the acquisition of the company Barclays Bank SAU, which handles the British bank's retail and corporate banking and asset management business in Spain.

Following authorisation by the Bank of Spain, the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission and the National Securities Market Commission, Barclays Bank SAU, with a clientele of 550,000, mainly retail and private and personal banking customers, a network of 262 branches, close on 2,400 employees and assets of 21.6 billion euros, today becomes a new subsidiary of the CaixaBank Group.

As at 30 June 2014, Barclays Bank SAU had a total of 18.4 billion euros in net loans, 9.9 billion euros in customer deposits and 4.9 billion euros in assets under management.

In today's agreement, CaixaBank has paid a price of 820 million euros for the purchase of Barclays Bank SAU (the amount is calculated on certain adjustments contemplated in the sale and purchase agreement, based on an estimate of Barclays Bank SAU's net worth totalling 1.714 million euros as of 31 December 2014). As announced when the agreement was signed on 31 August, the final purchase price will be established in accordance with the final net worth of Barclays Bank SAU at 31 December 2014, in accordance with the annual accounts which will be drawn up and audited over the coming weeks.

New Board of Directors

The signing of the deal was followed by the first meeting of the new Board of Directors of Barclays Bank SAU, comprising executives from CaixaBank, and chaired by the Managing Director of CaixaBank, Juan Alcaraz. The board also includes Juan Gandarias, Regional Director for Madrid, who will become the Managing Director of the new CaixaBank Group subsidiary; Antonio Vila, Chairman of MicroBank; Xavier Coll, Deputy Managing Director for Human Resources and Organisation; Jordi Fontanals, Executive Director for Media; and Jordi Mondejar, Executive Director for Intervention, Management Control and Capital.

At its first meeting, the board agreed to embark on a restructuring of the workforce, in pursuit of the best formula in accordance with new requirements, so as to lay the foundations for an increase in efficiency and profitability.

No changes to customer operations

Customers of Barclays Bank SAU will maintain their current banking operations completely unmodified, and on the same terms and conditions, as they will be handled by the current staff of Barclays Bank SAU. Membership of the CaixaBank Group will offer customers new benefits, such as access to the network of 9,600 "la Caixa" ATMs for cash withdrawals completely free of charge. Alongside the Barclays name display, the branches will announce the fact that the company belongs to the CaixaBank Group.

The Barclays Group will meanwhile maintain Barclaycard and its investment banking business in Spain, as these operations are not included in the deal.

Information about CaixaBank

CaixaBank is an integrated financial group listed on the stock market, with a banking business, insurance operations and investments in international banks, and is the leader in the Spanish market, firmly committed to growth at both domestic and international levels, through its proven experience in banking sector investments.

CaixaBank, chaired by Isidro Fainé, with Gonzalo Gortázar as its CEO, has 13.5 million customers, a network of 5,685 branches and 31,517 employees, and is the leader in the retail banking sector, thanks to its intensive commercial operations, proactive and effective risk management and continuous drive to innovate.

Information about Barclays

Barclays is an international provider of financial services focusing on personal banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and asset management, with an extensive presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays' mission is to help people put their projects into practice in the best possible way.

With more than 300 years of banking experience and history, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs some 135,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and safeguards its customers' money all around the world.