Fitch puts Liberbank on positive watch

Fitch Ratings said it placed BB+ rated Liberbank SA on rating watch positive. The placement follows the announcement of a merger with Unicaja Banco SA. Fitch affirmed Unicaja’s BBB- issuer rating.

Unicaja will absorb Liberbank, which will cease to exist as a legal entity. The merger is expected to be completed before the end of the third quarter.

“Following the merger, we expect Liberbank to benefit from the combined entity’s stronger domestic franchise through a larger and more diversified presence in Spain, upside earnings generation potential mainly based on improved cost efficiency and larger critical mass, and higher coverage resulting from additional provisioning. The RWP on Liberbank’s ratings reflects our view that they will converge with those of Unicaja upon merger,” Fitch said in a press release.

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