“What to say about this scheme, there’s no other name for it, I apologize, I’m also not mincing words, this scheme called the Novo Banco deal,” stated Paulo Raimundo during the PCP regional gathering in Estarreja, Aveiro district.
The communist leader recalled that the Portuguese paid eight billion euros to free Novo Banco, which was later sold to an American fund for one billion euros.
However, Raimundo claims that, in practice, the bank was purchased at zero cost by the fund because the one billion euros were taken from the bank’s own dividends and is now being sold for 6.4 billion euros.
“Here is the final outcome: The American fund profits. The State gains a crumb. We paid for the hole, and the bank that should be public, because it’s paid for by public resources, ends up in the hands of yet another French multinational company. A great deal for some, a terrible deal for everyone and the country,” he concluded.
The PCP has already announced plans to move forward with an initiative in the Assembly of the Republic to regain public control of Novo Banco.
Lone Star has reached an agreement with the French banking group BPCE for the sale of its stake in Novo Banco, equating to a valuation of 6.4 billion euros for 100% of the share capital.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
The government has also announced it will monitor the sale by Lone Star, selling the 11.46% of Novo Banco’s capital directly controlled by the Ministry of Finance, which should yield about 733 million euros.
The remaining 13.54% is held by the Resolution Fund, which could earn around 866 million euros from the deal.
