BPI shareholders approve stock market exit 

Shareholders at bank BPI have voted for the bank’s exit from Lisbon’s Stock Market.

The once Portuguese-owned bank, now in Spanish hands and led by Pablo Forero is leaving the PSI-20 32 years after joining.

It was approved by over 99% of shareholders at its General Assembly on Friday. CaixaBank holds 94% of BPI. The last day of trading on the Lisbon stock market will be within the coming weeks.

On 6 May the Spanish bank CaixaBank acquired 92,935% of BPI’s share capital and since then has reinforced its capital position to 94%.

It means that apart from state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Millennium BCP is now the only Portuguese-owned bank left in the market. Several major Portuguese entities have quit the Lisbon PSI-20 in recent years including CIMPOR (cement), Sumol+Compal (fruit juices and soft drinks), SDC (investments) and Luz Saúde (private healthcare).

BPI has been controlled by the Spanish CaixaBank since 2017 when it bought its BPI shares from Allianz for €177.98.

In the latest phase — a transaction worth €150 million, the Catalan bank which recently moved its headquarters to Valencia, expects to acquire the shares of those shareholders which voted against the withdrawal from the PSI-20 in a mandatory purchase order.