PNC strikes deal to buy US operations of Spain's BBVA in a deal valued at nearly $12 billion

BBVA head-office building in Bilbao. — Wikimedia

PNC Financial has struck a deal to buy the US arm of Spain's BBVA for nearly $12 billion. The tie-up would create the fifth-largest US retail bank.
The merger is among the largest mergers in the banking space since the financial crisis.
PNC said it expects the deal, which is expected to close around June next year, to be 21% accretive to its 2021 earnings.
BBVA US would replace PNC's net income previously generated from its stake in BlackRock.
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PNC Financial has agreed to buy the US operations of Spain's second-largest lender for nearly $12 billion, the companies announced on Monday.

The deal, which would create a bank with over $550 billion in assets, is among the largest financial tie-ups since the financial crisis of 2008/2009.

PNC said it expects its merger with BBVA USA to be about 21% accretive to its 2021 earnings and to replace net income generated from passive BlackRock investment. The US bank acquired BlackRock in 1995 for $204 million but its stake gradually shrank and was finally sold for $15 billion earlier this year.

"Our acquisition of BBVA USA will accelerate our growth trajectory and drive long-term shareholder value through a strategic deployment of the proceeds from the sale of our BlackRock investment," William Demchak, PNC's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.

BBVA's Madrid-listed shares rose 15% in early European trading, but the company's stock is down 33% year-to-date, in line with the broader banking and financial sector.

The transaction would add about $86 billion of deposits and $66 billion in loans from BBVA's US arm, and is expected to close in mid-2021. BBVA hired JPMorgan Securities as financial advisor, while PNC had Bank of America, Citi, and Evercore.

Buying the Spanish bank's American operations would strengthen Pittsburgh-based PNC's services in the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southeast regions. BBVA already has assets worth about $100 billion in the US through its acquisition of Compass Bancshares in Alabama.

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