Politician turned TV pundit, Marques Mendes, claims that the Bank of Portugal will sell Novo Banco within four to six months, and that already there are several foreign banks interested.
The former minister and former PSD leader Luís Marques Mendes made the comments on his Jornal da Noite on SIC, saying that the intention of the Bank of Portugal is not to sell off parts of Novo Banco, or to sell it to various investors, but to sell it all off to one buyer.
Mendes also said that the proposed purchase will be by sealed bid and that a number of potential buyers already have been identified by advisor BNP Paribas, including three Spanish banks, one British bank and a Brazilian bank with other investment companies taking a keen interest.
Portugal's Banco Português de Investimento is said to be involved in talks but this so far has been denied by its president.
The problem is the price as Novo Banco, the bank created to take on the good assets of BES after its collapse, is “not worth €4.9 billion, but neither is it worth zero,' according to the president of BPI who says the Bank of Portugal has done its sums all wrong.
The €4.9 billion is the amount that the government authorised be injected into Novo Banco from the Resolution Fund and is keen to get this amount back.
Fernando Ulrich, the president of Banco Português de Investimento (BPI), said that he is afraid that the Bank of Portugal has not done its maths and he worries that Novo Banco will be sold off at a price to cover only the amount owed to the Resolution Fund, which would be crippling for Portugal's banks that have been forced to support the injection of new capital into Novo Banco via a banking support fund.
Ulrich says it's premature to talk about a possible purchase of Novo Banco by Banco Português de Investimento, but he argues that a sale should be made as soon as possible.
