MADRID, March 21 (Reuters) - BBVA's Chair Carlos Torres said on Friday he was fully confident of the success of the Spanish lender's takeover bid for smaller rival Sabadell.
The bid is opposed by the Spanish government. BBVA's all-share hostile takeover offer for Sabadell, valued in April at more than 12 billion euros ($12.64 billion), is being reviewed by the antitrust watchdog.
"We have every confidence in the success of the operation because it is beneficial for everyone," Torres told reporters before the bank's shareholders' meeting in Bilbao, also citing the need for European banks to gain scale and strength in a challenging global context.
A merger between Sabadell and BBVA would create a bank with over 1 trillion euros ($1.11 trillion) in total assets.
Torres' comments come after Sabadell CEO Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno said on Wednesday he did not expect Spain's competition watchdog to be "too harsh" on BBVA when it publishes its review of the proposed deal, possibly as soon as this month.
Reporting by Jesús Aguado, edititng by Andrei Khalip
Source: Reuters