Santander Totta says it is not thinking about buying Novo Banco, but admits it is considering the transaction

President Santander Totta said this Friday that the bank is not thinking about buying Novo Banco, but admitted that it would consider the transaction when it happens.

At the press conference for the presentation of the 2023 financial statements (profits of 1.030 million euros, 70% more than in 2022), President Santander Totta said that he “does not think about buying Novo Banco”, but also admitted that he always will attentive” and that he cannot “guarantee that he will not buy Novo Banco.”

“We never know what will happen. If they give us a bank, we will keep it,” he said.

When asked whether such an operation (Santander Totta’s takeover of Novo Banco) could create political problems, since it would result in a bank of Spanish origin becoming the leader of the Portuguese market (currently the main one is the public Caixa Geral de Depósitos), Pedro Castro and Almeida replied that we live in a global world, so when a sale of Novo Banco is possible, if CGD does not want to risk “losing its leadership, it should bid for Novo Banco.”

In January last year in parliament, the CGD president said that the bank’s size and current profits make it an active operator and, if such circumstances had existed in 2015, Banif and Banco Popular would not have been sold for a single euro.

Paulo Macedo stated that this was because CGD could not be an active operator at the time. “CGD had no capital, was on the brink of crisis and had a six-year history of losses,” he said, believing that this was why there were banks that had “increased their market share beyond their merit.”

However, he says CGD has changed and “today Caixa is not a small box, it is profitable and autonomous.”

“Precisely because Caixa is what it is, today a foreign bank will not be able to buy Banif and Banco Popular for one euro,” Macedo told a parliamentary hearing.

In 2015, Santander Totta (owned by Santander) acquired Banif’s banking activities (as part of its settlement) for €150 million. In 2018, as part of his decision, he acquired Spain’s Banco Popular for one euro.

Novo Banco (born of the BES decision) is 75% owned by the North American investment fund Lone Star, and the remaining capital is public (through the Resolution Fund and directly from the Portuguese state).

Novo Banco President Mark Bourque said he wants to sell the bank on the stock exchange. In an interview with Reuters in November, Bourque said Novo Banco would be ready for a potential listing in the first half of 2024, although he acknowledged the timing was challenging.