LISBON—Novo Banco, the Portuguese bank created out of failed
lender Banco Espí rito Santo SA last year, has received three
binding offers that will be analyzed in the coming weeks, the
country's central bank said Tuesday.
The central bank didn't provide names of the bidders or
financial terms of the offers.
The companies shortlisted for this latest round were Spain's
Banco Santander SA, China's Fosun International Ltd. and Anbang
Insurance, U.S. private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC
and Cerberus Capital Management LP. Cerebus didn't put down an
offer, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Bank of Portugal could decide to ask some of the bidders to
improve their offers if they are too similar, taking the sale to
another round.
But while Novo Banco wants to fully pay back the €4.9 billion
($5.5 billion) capital injection it received from a bailout fund,
analysts consider it unlikely the bank will fetch that much.
Santander is the only among the four to have banking operations
in Portugal, a country that last year exited a bailout from
international creditors but whose banking system continues to
struggle with souring loans and low growth. Fosun and Apollo own
insurance companies in the country.
In its latest financial report released in March, Novo Banco
posted a loss of €468 million for the five months to Dec. 31, but
it said deposits were growing again and its liquidity position was
improving. It reported credit at risk of default of 16.5% of total
loans.
Still, Novo Banco's size makes it an attractive—and rare—prey.
With €72.5 billion in assets, it has around an 18% share of
Portugal's banking market, according to the bank, and a presence in
nearly two dozen countries globally.
Novo Banco was created in August last year when the Bank of
Portugal broke up Banco Espí rito Santo into a "good bank" and a
"bad bank." Novo Banco kept the bulk of BES's branches, deposits
and loans, while shedding shareholders' and junior bondholders'
claims on the bank and its problematic subsidiaries in the U.S.,
Libya and Angola. It has kept operations in Cape Verde, Venezuela,
Mozambique and a 9.9% stake in Angolan lender Banco Economico.
Banco Espí rito Santo collapsed in August amid a record
first-half loss triggered by its exposure to its troubled
family-controlled parent company.
The sale price of Novo Banco is particularly important because
from the €4.9 billion capital injection it received, €3.9 billion
came from the Portuguese state. Under resolution fund rules, the
state must be paid back 100% of that, which means other Portuguese
banks will have to cover any shortfall.
Write to Patricia Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com
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