The American fund manager BlackRock, which up to now held 3.21% of CaixaBank, has reached 5.017% of the capital, thus establishing itself as the third shareholder in the entity, behind Criteria (30.012%) and the State (16.117%).
This is stated in the records of the CNMV, the Spanish stock market supervisor, which show an increase in the participation of this global investment management company. The increase in the weight of BlackRock is a consequence of both purchases of CaixaBank shares and also the recent capital reduction by the bank.
And it is that the board of CaixaBank managed on December 22 to redeem all of the own shares acquired within the framework of its buyback program, which implied reducing the bank’s share capital by 558.5 million euros by amortizing as many treasury shares with a par value of one euro each. Said plan to repurchase own shares and their subsequent amortization forms part of the remuneration provided for the shareholder within the framework of the bank’s strategic plan until 2024.
Said redemption of shares should also mean that the main shareholders of the bank, that is, the La Caixa Banking Foundation, through Criteria, with 30.012% of the capital, and the State, through the FROB, with 16.117%, eleven their weight in the shareholding, with which both would receive more dividends for their participation in the entity.
Of this 5.017% that BlackRock now controls of CaixaBank, 4.40% corresponds to voting rights attributed to the shares it owns, while BlackRock controls another 0.615% through financial instruments.
