CaixaBank and Bankia, Spain’s third and fourth largest banks, have confirmed they are in merger talks. Such a move which would create a bank with assets of more than $676bn. Although this would still leave a newly formed Caixa/Bankia group considerably behind Santander, Spain’s largest bank, which has $1710bn in assets, it would place the new bank in the same ballpark as BBVA’s $785bn assets.
On the retail side in particular, the new bank would be a substantial force in the market, with a larger retail loan book than rival BBVA.
