Spanish Bank Receives UK Approval to Acquire TSB Bank

Spain’s second-largest bank BBVA has received approval from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority to take indirect control of TSB, the UK banking subsidiary of Banco Sabadell.

BBVA said the authorization is one of the approvals it has to secure for its bid of more than €12 billion ($13.3 billion) to acquire Sabadell, as the British bank would be integrated into BBVA.

BBVA initially made an all-share offer to Sabadell in May, but after it was rejected, the bank decided to go hostile, taking the offer directly to shareholders in a second attempt to acquire Sabadell following a failed bid in 2020.

The acquisition has also received approval from the United States, France, Portugal and Morocco, where Banco Sabadell has a presence.

However, the acquisition, which is reportedly opposed by the Spanish government, still requires authorization from the European Central Bank (ECB), Spain’s stock market supervisor and its antitrust watchdog.

The ECB is reportedly in favor of a potential merger as it believes Sabadell’s focus on Spain and BBVA’s strong presence in emerging markets would create a well-diversified combined group.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates-based open banking platform Tarabut has acquired Vyne, a London-based real-time account-to-account payments platform for online businesses.

The acquisition aims to bolster Tarabut’s ability to deliver faster, more accessible and more interconnected financial services both across the region and globally.

It has been approved by the Saudi Central Bank and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and officially closed on 1 August.

Abdulla Almoayed, CEO of Tarabut said,  “This acquisition is a pivotal step in our long-term growth strategy, allowing us to bring mature, tried and tested payment products to the region, and providing solutions for the everyday issues that merchants and consumers face when taking or making payments.”