Spanish companies in takeovers

[Chiny]

Spanish companies appear to be in takeover mode at present. Latest today http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4929462.stm means I will be drinking agua rather than water shortly :)

This is a tricky area for the Spanish Government, who got themselves into hot water recently, by resisting takeovers of a Spanish company unless by another Spanish company http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4738502.stm .

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Chiny

[Ben]

Amazing, the Spanish economy really seems to be on the up and up... Will Spain one day be the economic super power in Europe? They certianly seem set to equal or pass Italy, Germany, France etc in economic terms...

[Rabbitoh]

Everybody defends their own, I suppose. It's incredible how far-reaching Spanish business extends outside of Iberia, especially into its former colonies: The Philippines, Argentina, Venezuela, etc... In the news recently, Spain was engaged in a diplomatic dispute between Uruguay and Argentina over a pulp-paper factory partially financed by Spanish banks. Cite: http://www.americas.org/item_26124

I've heard it mentioned a few times that the dominance of Banco Popular in Puerto Rico makes some mainland Americans nervous should PR become the next state. BP is something like the highest private *and* foreign investor on the island. My ex-boyfriend joked that his passport belonged to America but his money belonged to Madrid.

[Ben]

Let's not forget the dominance of Telefonica in South America as well...

[cubix]

Ben, when I was in Spain, our professors at the university were talking about how across the board, salaries were going down each year, where they mistkaen or did I not understand?

Greg

[Ben]

I get the impression that they are not rising in line with living costs, which have rocketed since the introduction of the Euro. Marina, any thoughts?

[lumpsuckerpig]

Let's not forget the dominance of Telefonica in South America as well...
Telefonica do seem to be a strong company all over the place. I hold some Telefonica shares, dont get excited, I only have a few, and they really hold their value long term. Maybe they will bid for BT in the not too distant future?

[cubix]

Another interesting point that one of the professors made about the economics of spain, was that most couples were electing not to have kid or to only have one, I forgot the number of kids per couple, but it was like 1.2 or something..

[Ben]

Yes, if it wasn't for the immigrant influx the Spanish population would be in serious decline. I think that a couple of years ago Spain had the lowest birth rate in Europe.

[Marina]

Salaries - Since the Euro was introduced, simple things like a coffe, a caña (small glass of beer), a meal in a restaurant or the small items in the supermarket have increased their prices aproximately by 50% whereas my salary in the past 4 years has grown between 0-5%. It's ironic but my salary when I started to work took me further than it takes me now 7 years later.

Children - It is true that birth rate in Spain was the lowest in Europe for a while but apart from the immigrants, I think that Spanish people are having more children again. It's sometimes difficult for couples working in the city being out of your house for 12 hours a day (counting commuting times) to
include children in their lifes, and there are few social help from spanish state. At the moment the state gives 100 Euros for each child under 6 when the mother is working.

Telefónica - I work in a consultant company and between 70 -80 % of the company income comes from Telefonica Projects and projects from other companies of the group. And it's the same for most of the technological consultant companies. So that gives you an idea of the amount of people that live from of Telefonica.

[Chiny]

Spanish companies are still at it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6128676.stm

This time it is the evil Iberdrola with whom I have clashed before.

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Chiny

[Alan]

I was just about to mention this. Could be another Scottish company in Spanish hands...

[omeyas]

Yes, I think, rather stupidly, the UK seems to be the only one playing by the rules! :) Whilst French, Spanish etc companies can walk into the UK and seemingly buy any company they wish, it doesn´t seem to work the other way!:confused: The Endesa affair was an example of this. I understand, it is very difficult to buy in France for example.

Spreading disease
With France, Luxembourg and Italy already in the frame for alleged protectionism, much of the rest of Europe appears to be following suit.
In Spain - aside from the Arcelor issue - the government is trying to prevent Germany's second-largest power firm, E.On, from taking over Spanish electricity group Endesa.
In Poland, the authorities have been accused of trying to prevent a merger in the banking sector.
And Germany has long faced criticism for a law which effectively protects the carmaker Volkswagen from being bought up.