Lisbon, May 9, 2025 (Lusa) - CaixaBank, the owner of Portugal's BPI, is among banks exploring a potential takeover of Novo Banco, according to reports on Friday that cited sources familiar with the matter.
The Spanish bank has been in talks about a deal with Lone Star, the US fund that controls Novo Banco, the news agency Bloomberg quoted the sources, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, as saying.
CaixaBank in November presented a new strategic plan for the period 2025-2027, according to which it expects growth of 4% a year until 2027 for BPI, which it bought in 2016.
"We don't envisage any growth operation other than purely organic growth in Portugal," said Gonzalo Gortázar, in response to questions from journalists at the end of January about the possibility of CaixaBank buying other banks in Portugal, such as Novo Banco. "We want BPI to continue to grow organically and without acquisitions."
The Portuguese bank could also attract interest from other suitors, including French banking group BPCE, according to Bloomberg.
Lone Star, which owns 75% of Novo Banco, is still preparing the bank for an initial public offering, despite the interest from buyers, noting that any deal would require support from Portugal's government, which owns the rest of Novo Banco's shares.
Other names have also been associated with Novo Banco, such as Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the state-owned bank that is the country's largest in terms of assets, which said in February that it was analysing a possible takeover.
Novo Banco revealed on Tuesday that it made a profit of €177.2 million in the first quarter, 1.9% less than in the first three months of 2024.
This year, Lone Star announced the sale of part of the bank on the stock exchange and a dividend distribution plan to make the institution attractive to investors.
CaixaBank is among several Spanish banks that have increased their presence in Portugal in recent years. In 2017, the largest Spanish national bank took control of Banco BPI and last year Abanca acquired EuroBic.
Novo Banco was created in 2014 as the successor institution to Banco Espírito Santo, after the latter was wound up by the Bank of Portugal amid the financial collapse of the wider group.
MES/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
