State-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos remains headline news as one of its more ambitious loans seems to have turned sour, leaving a potential loss of €278 million to be accounted for.
The bank, troubled by recent poor management appointments and a huge overhang of bad property debts, loaned millions to companies involved in the Keys development at Quinta do Lago – money that the bank is unlikely to see repaid in full as Birchview Imobiliária has applied for protection under a Special Revitalization Process.
Caixa General made several loans to Birchview Imobiliária, a company that was born from another involved in the Banco Português de Negócios scandal and which then purchased the prime construction land at Quinta do Lago.
The provisional list of creditors of Birchview Imobiliária SA, as published in the Citius legal portal, are owed €247.3 million in capital, €26.4 million in interest, €2.7 million in commissions, €1.3 million in tax and €83,500 in expenses.
Caixa Geral’s claim is for 93% of a total of around €299 million from a group of 39 creditors.
The state owned bank, on the point of receiving a massive cash injection from the taxpayer, has charges over three lots for urban construction at the Keys which belongs to three former offshore companies that were caught in the BPN investigation: Birchview, Chapelmoor and Bridgedown.
The initial investors in the The Keys are reported to be trying to convince real estate investment funds to negotiate with Birchview and Caixa Geral to buy the luxury Quinta do Lago project for just €100 million, around one third of the money owed.
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