Bank of Portugal Expects Novo Banco Bids in Early 2015
By Anabela Reis November 17, 2014 Bank of Portugal Governor Carlos Costa expects to receive preliminary offers early next year for Novo Banco SA, the bank that emerged from the collapse of Banco Espirito Santo SA.Binding offers are due in the middle of the second quarter, Costa said at a parliamentary hearing today.“We have indication that there are parties interested,” he said. “We have all the interest in a process that safeguards the value of the bank” with “the smallest possible loss.”VIDEO: Saxo Bank Expects Dollar to Weaken in 2015Once Portugal’s biggest lender by market value, Banco Espirito Santo was bailed out on Aug. 3 after regulators ordered it to raise more capital to cover potential losses on loans linked to companies that are part of the family-controlled Espirito Santo Group. The central bank moved the lender’s deposit-taking operations and most of its assets to Novo Banco.The central bank plans to use the sale proceeds to recover 4.9 billion euros ($6.1 billion) injected into Novo Banco from the country’s resolution fund. Junior creditors and shareholders are stuck with the toxic assets housed in the old bank, which is getting no state money, until it can be shut down.Portugal is seeking to sell Novo Banco in “the shortest time possible with the best, competitive conditions,” Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque said on Oct. 8. “Rapidly doesn’t mean in a hurry or cheaply.”STORY: 2015 Global Economic Outlook: Better Than 2014—but Not By MuchPortugal’s Banco BPI SA, Banco Santander SA (SAN), Spain’s largest lender, and China’s Fosun Group have expressed interest in Novo Banco.To contact the reporter on this story: Anabela Reis in Lisbon at areis1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net Steve Bailey, Cindy Roberts |