By Jeannette Neumann
MADRID--The chief executive of Caixabank SA said the Spanish
lender is considering making an offer for Barclays PLC's retail
business in Spain, which analysts estimate has a value of as much
as EUR2.2 billion ($2.98 billion).
"We have a lot of interest," Juan MaríSHYa Nin said in an
interview.
He said his Barcelona-based bank, Spain's third largest by
market value, is in talks with the U.K. lender but has yet to begin
an analysis of mortgages and other loans held by Barclays' 262
offices in Spain.
Barclays once had about 600 offices in Spain and was one of the
country's leading foreign banks, but the collapse of Spain's
real-estate market in 2008 brought losses on mortgages and other
types of real-estate loans, chipping away at the lender's market
share and profits. The bank announced in May it would abandon the
retail-banking businesses in Western Europe in an effort to boost
profitability.
A spokesman for Barclays in Spain declined to comment on the
talks with Caixabank.
Barclays' withdrawal is part of a broader retrenchment by
foreign banks in Spain. Lloyds Banking Group PLC sold its retail
banking business to Banco de Sabadell SA in 2013. Banco Popular
Español SA is in talks to buy Citigroup Inc.'s retail-banking and
credit-card business, a deal that is expected to close soon.
Sabadell and Popular are Spain's fifth- and fourth-largest private
banks by market value, respectively. Many banks have decided to
concentrate more on their businesses at home or in their
top-earning markets to help bolster their capital ratios after the
financial crisis, analysts say.
In the interview Wednesday, Mr. Nin said acquisition of
Barclays' offices would help bolster Caixabank's market share,
particularly in Madrid.
He said Caixabank is also considering a purchase of Catalunya
Banc SA, a competitor in its home region, Catalonia. Catalunya
Banc's strong presence in and around Barcelona is attractive, he
said. The government nationalized Catalunya Banc in 2012, and
previous attempts to sell it have failed to attract viable offers.
Catalunya Banc went up for auction again on June 2, and interested
buyers have until July 14 to submit binding offers.
Spain injected EUR12 billion into Catalunya Banc, the country's
second most expensive bank bailout after Bankia SA. The lender's
bank branches carry the name CatalunyaCaixa.
Mr. Nin said Caixabank had not begun due-diligence research on
the bailed-out lender. "I am going to look at both," he said,
referring to Barclays and Catalunya Banc.
Mr. Nin is a tried-and-tested deal maker. In the fallout of the
real-estate bust, Caixabank bought six Spanish savings banks, known
as cajas, and two banks.
Those acquisitions catapulted Caixabank's share of Spanish
deposits and loans to 15% from 10%, according to Mr. Nin,
overtaking Spanish rivals Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya Argentaria SA, known as BBVA. Part of that growth came as
Barclays and other foreign banks retreated.
"We are the toughest and quickest integrator, at least in
Europe," Mr. Nin said, comparing Caixabank's growth through
acquisitions to that of U.S. lender Wells Fargo & Co.
He hinted at further buying opportunities in the wake of
balance-sheet checkups by European regulators this year that will
analyze the strength of the euro zone's biggest banks. The result
of these stress tests and asset-quality reviews, he said, will
"produce new opportunities for consolidation."
Caixabank's extensive branch network has some analysts and
investors scratching their heads. With 5,700 branches throughout
Spain, Caixabank already has more than any other lender. Its
branches carry the name La Caixa. Banco Santander has 4,000
offices, and BBVA 3,200.
But Caixabank has the least productive branch network of major
banks in Spain as measured by revenue per branch, according to an
April 16 report by Citigroup analyst Stefan Nedialkov. Caixabank
has a 16.9% branch market share in Spain, Mr. Nedialkov wrote,
compared with a 14.7% loan share. To make its branches more
efficient, he added, the lender would need to close around 700
branches.
Mr. Nin defended the branch network. "The retail banking
business of the future demands strong market share," he said.
But he acknowledged that Caixabank's heightened focus on digital
banking and young Spaniards' growing reliance on mobile banking
could shift its bricks-and-mortar strategy.
"We are always going to have the biggest branch network in Spain
because in retail banking today in Spain it's an important
competitive advantage, " he said. "But that doesn't mean that we
wouldn't adjust our branch model or the number of branches. If in
the future our clients demand another type of branches or if our
clients demand another channel and they don't appreciate physical
branches, we will make decisions."
In November, Caixabank launched a new type of branch, called
Office A, that is meant to have the "look and feel" of an Apple
Inc. store, Mr. Nin said.
The Barcelona branch has a lounge for customers and a display
case of different designs available for credit cards. Clients can
sign most documents electronically on tablets in or outside the
branch. Caixabank is launching a similar office in Seville, in
southern Spain, in coming weeks.
Catalonia's regional government leaders in Barcelona have
proposed a referendum on independence from Spain, raising questions
about the impact on the lender.
"Our contingency plan is that we don't have a contingency plan,"
Mr. Nin said, adding that he is confident Spanish politicians will
reach an agreement that will be "good for Catalonia and all of
Spain."
Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com
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