At 12:45 in Lisbon, the stock rose by 11% compared to the market’s opening and 3.59% relative to Monday’s closing. Approximately an hour earlier, they were trading at 4.39 euros. Up until 12:45, 27,006 shares were exchanged, resulting in a trading volume of around 111,500 euros.
José António dos Santos, the largest individual shareholder of Benfica SAD, holding 16.38% of the capital directly and indirectly, stated in an interview with Jornal de Negócios that he would only consider selling the red and white shares entirely, and at a minimum price of 12 euros per share. “This is as of today; tomorrow might be different,” he remarked.
On May 7, Benfica announced it would request the nullification of the auction that allowed a bidder to acquire shares held by the former president Luís Filipe Vieira in the ‘encarnada’ SAD for 7.07 euros. “Sport Lisboa e Benfica, through its subsidiary Benfica SGPS, participated in the auction of shares held by Luís Filipe Vieira, having submitted a suitable offer and was informed that these shares were sold to another bidder for 7.07 euros,” stated the club on its official website.
However, Benfica noted that they have not yet received any notification regarding their right of first refusal, and therefore, precautionarily requested the annulment of the sale. On May 5, the club announced its intention to acquire the shares representing 3.28% of the ‘encarnada’ SAD which were seized from former president Luís Filipe Vieira in an executive proceeding.
Benfica informed its members and supporters that it has closely monitored the executive process in which shares held by Luís Filipe Vieira were seized, and communicated timely to the competent court its right of first refusal on these shares as per the anticipated auction. The club emphasized that it would act in the best interest of the club to acquire this volume of shares, representing 3.28% of the SAD’s capital.
On the same day, Jornal de Negócios reported that the securities block held by Vieira was set to be auctioned by the Spanish investment house JB Capital, and that Benfica intended to exercise its purchase option on them.
The former president’s shares were seized by Novo Banco in November 2021 due to a precautionary measure alongside an executive action where the bank claimed the repayment of 7.5 million euros on a loan to Promovalor. Since the debt was not cleared, Novo Banco acted on personal promissory notes given by Luís Filipe Vieira, which included the participation in the ‘encarnada’ SAD.
The auction proceeded at the executor’s instruction, who mandated JB Capital to dispose of the stake. The 3.28% stake corresponds to a total of 753,615 shares.
Quoted along with Benfica and leading the men’s football league are the shares of the Sporting and Porto SADs. Sporting’s shares, which lead due to a head-to-head advantage over Benfica, have remained stable since opening and are down 4.76% from the close on Monday, valued at one euro, with 8,896 shares changing hands, equating to the same trading volume (8,896 euros).
Porto’s SAD shares are also stable compared to the opening but have gained 0.98% from Monday’s closing, valued at 1.03 euros, with 2,009 shares exchanged, totaling a volume of 2,069 euros.
