By Adria Calatayud

Banco de Sabadell shareholders approved reelecting Chief Executive Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno Mayer as executive director, as the Spanish bank seeks to fend off a hostile takeover bid by larger peer BBVA.

Sabadell said late Thursday that its board reappointed Gonzalez-Bueno as chief executive officer upon his reelection as executive director at a general meeting of shareholders.

Shareholders voted in favor of a resolution at the meeting that sought Gonzalez-Bueno's reappointment as executive director on the board for a term of four years alongside other proposals put to vote, including Sabadell's new shareholder-return policy, the bank said.

Sabadell in February outlined plans to boost its returns to shareholders in 2024 and 2025 to 3.3 billion euros ($3.58 billion), up from a previous target of 2.9 billion euros, in the context of the takeover bid by BBVA, formally known as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.

At a press conference ahead of the annual meeting, Sabadell Chairman Josep Oliu urged the Spanish government to provide clarity on the conditions it might impose on the offer from BBVA before deciding how to vote.

BBVA's bid was rebuffed last year by Sabadell and is still pending approval from Sabadell's shareholders and Spanish regulators. Earlier this week, BBVA said it had all the international authorizations needed to complete the transaction, but Spain's competition and financial-markets regulators have yet to issue a decision after reviewing the proposed deal.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2025 02:29 ET (06:29 GMT)

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