At a recent conference, Pedro Castro e Almeida, CEO of Santander Totta, expressed surprise at the sale price of Novo Banco. “In the last conference, someone asked whether we [bank presidents] thought it was possible to sell Novo Banco for 5 billion euros. I expressed my doubts, and others had even bigger doubts, but the reality is that it was sold for 6.4 billion euros,” he said during the presentation of the bank’s first semester results in Lisbon.
The transaction value to the bank’s estimated value reached a multiple of 1.6 times, a figure that Almeida noted “is not very normal in Europe.”
However, he acknowledged that Santander sold a bank in Poland for similar multiples.
“This has a lot to do with the fact that the world has changed, and probably, a year ago, the United States was a much more attractive market. Today, Europe might be a much more attractive market, and the sale of Novo Banco reflects this,” he added.
He highlighted the importance of European investment in the country and the banking sector, which has been praised by presidents of other international banks.
Pedro Castro e Almeida commended the efforts of the presidents who have led Novo Banco since its inception—former Santander presidents Eduardo Stock da Cunha and António Ramalho, as well as the current president, Mark Bourke—stating that they did “fantastic work” since the bank’s creation.
On June 13, Lone Star reached an agreement with the French banking group BPCE for the sale of Novo Banco, valuing 100% of its share capital at 6.4 billion euros.
The sale of the Resolution Fund’s 13.54% stake in Novo Banco will result in gross proceeds of approximately 866 million euros, according to the Fund.
Meanwhile, the government will sell its stake in Novo Banco, controlled directly by the Ministry of Finance, to BPCE, aligning with Lone Star’s 75% divestment, in a deal valuing the bank at 6.4 billion euros.
