Lone Star receives offers from BPCE and CaixaBank

The US equity fund and asset manager Lone Star is said to have received two offers for Novobanco – one from the French group BPCE (Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Epargne, and Natixis brands), and the other from CaixaBank.

This is according to Bloomberg that also states that the plan to float the bank on the Lisbon stock market Euronext Lisbon in an IPO is also still on the table.

Meanwhile, the plot had thickened as a bank manager who asked to remain anonymous, told Essential Business on Friday that Novobanco had already been sold and plans had been drawn up to shed staff as part of a merger agreement.

Bloomberg also reported that the decision to press ahead with an IPO will be made this week, although Lone Star, which holds 75% of the bank, has declined to comment.

However, the Portuguese government has already stated through its Minister of Finances, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento that it has reservations over a Spanish buyout since it would place 50% of Portugal’s banking system in the hands of the Spanish.

The offer from the BPCE group, the second largest in France, would be a better candidate in the eyes of the Portuguese government as it reduces the concentration of investors from one country (I.e Spain).

A third possibility is that the bank could be broken up with the clearing part of the bank being sold to one bidder and the private banking part being sold to another. State-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos is said to be interested in buying Novobanco’s private banking service.