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French bank BPCE has acquired a majority stake in Portuguese lender Novo Banco that values the business at €6.4bn, in one of the largest recent cross-border banking deals in Europe.
The US private equity firm Lone Star has sold its 75 per cent stake in Novo Bank to BPCE. The French bank is in discussions with the Portuguese government about buying the remaining 25 per cent of the business.
Nicolas Namias, BPCE’s chief executive, told the Financial Times: “This is the biggest operation carried out in Europe for 10 years. This project is about European banking consolidation and creating players that can finance the European economy.”
The acquisition will be financed with BPCE’s own funds and the bank will maintain a common equity tier one ratio of 15 per cent after the announcement, Namias said.
Lone Star had also considered a public listing of Novo Banco, Portugal’s fourth largest bank.
It comes as BPCE has embarked on a string of acquisitions under Namias, including the ongoing tie-up of the bank’s asset management arm Natixis with Italian insurer Generali, and the acquisition of Société Générale’s leasing business last year.
