Spain’s Banco de Sabadell has bought the Spanish private bank Banco Urquijo from Belgium’s KBC Group for €760 million ($969.6 million). ...

Spain’s Banco de Sabadell has bought the Spanish private bank Banco Urquijo from Belgium’s KBC Group for €760 million ($969.6 million). The deal follows a long period of speculation over the acquisition of Madrid-based Urquijo, with various banks linked to the possible purchase, including Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole and a host of Spanish banks. Sabadell said in a statement that the acquisition will boost the firm’s private banking business, which will now be branded as Banco Urquijo SBP. The new division, which will target high net-worth customers, will begin operations with 16 branches across the country. Banco Urquijo SBP will also become the country's second-largest private banking network after Banif, which is a unit of Santander Central Hispano, Spain's leading financial group. Press reports say out of Urquijo's 60 branches, seven will be integrated into the new private banking division, 25 will be closed and the rest are to be integrated to Sabadell's network, which will now operate close to 1,130 branches across the country. About 40 per cent of Urquijo's operations will be integrated into the new private banking unit, with the rest merging into Sabadell's retail banking operations. Banco Urquijo, founded in 1870, is one of Spain's oldest private banks and has 815 employees.