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| "Any truly international company must have a presence in the US. For us it is a priority market" Francisco González, BBVA |
As the summer drew to a close, the pace of US small-bank failures was intensifying, with almost every Friday night bringing the announcement that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had seized another institution, which would be opening under new ownership on the Monday morning. It remains to be seen whether the FDIC can keep finding acquirers to take over the rising number of teetering banks – it had 416 on its problem list by the end of August – and how much longer its own financial resources can last before it has to borrow from the US Treasury.
It was initially reluctant to sell troubled banks to private equity investors, perhaps fearing their inherent leverage and the unsuitability of non-bank owners. It was due to release new guidance on private equity buyers as Euromoney went to press. Before then, it had turned for the first time to a foreign acquirer.
Spanish bank BBVA acquired its first bank in Texas in 2005, a second in 2006 and two more in 2007, including its largest to date, Compass Bank, for which it paid a consideration of $9.1
