Centeno denies there are state guarantees in NB sale
Mário Centeno acknowledged that the bank may not be sold off 100%, stressing that “a second line of possible negotiation” is contemplated”.
The Portuguese finance minister said on Monday in Brussels that there were no state guarantees for Novo Banco and acknowledged that the bank may not be sold off 100%, stressing that “a second line of possible negotiation” is contemplated”.
The minister insisted there would not be any state guarantees for Novo Banco, since “this is a position the government has taken and it is obviously going to maintain it”, and, when asked about the possibility of the Resolution Fund (Novo Banco’s sole shareholder) participating in its recapitalisation, he refused to comment on “details” of an on-going deal.
Mário Centeno stated that the sale of Novo Banco is progressing and that today’s decision by the Bank of Portugal (BdP) to negotiate exclusively with Lone Star was “just another step”.
The BdP said today it had selected the US investment fund Lone Star for the “definitive phase of negotiations, and no others, to finalize the terms of the sale of the Resolution Fund’s stake in Novo Banco”.
Novo Banco is the transition bank that was left over with the less problematic assets following the collapse of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) on 3 August 2014, that the government has been trying to off-load for a while.
