Abanca likely to buy EuroBic

It now seems almost certain that the Spanish bank Abanca will strengthen its position in Portugal by purchasing EuroBic.

There is said to be an agreement between Angolan shareholders which hold a significant share of the Portuguese bank and Abanca, but the acquisition still requires the green light from the Angolan authorities which have sized the goods and companies owned by Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos.

According to ECO, EuroBic has been on the market for two years after dos Santos, the largest shareholder, was forced to abdicate her shareholding. At that time the bank was on the point of being sold to Abanca and even Novo Banco was rumoured to be interested in purchasing the bank.

But there were disagreements over the price. Abanca had initially offered €200 million for EuroBic but then offered less after receiving a due diligence report which made it impossible to seal the deal at the 11th hour at the amount proposed.

Now EuroBic and the Spanish bank owned by Juan Carlos Escotet are said to be close to a deal. Officially the bank maintains that it has nothing to add to the statements it made in February. 

Jornal Económico reported at the start of this year that Abanca was in “exclusive negotiations to buy the bank’s capital in its entirety. Then a new sale process was launched which attracted the interest of other banks such as Banco CTT and Novobanco.

Isabel dos Santos controls 42.5% of the Portuguese bank through Santoro and Finisantoro, but has seen her goods and bank accounts frozen after a court order from the Angolan judicial authorities following the Luanda leaks dossiers in early 2020.

EuroBic has not yet presented its accounts for 2021, but registered a profit of around €9.3 million for the first nine months of the year and own capital of €565 million.