Montepio files a €40M lawsuit against Isabel dos Santos’ company
After the lawsuits submitted by Caixa, BCP and Novo Banco at the end of last year, it was Montepio's turn to file a 40.1 million euros lawsuit against Winterfell II.
There is a new lawsuit from a Portuguese bank against Isabel dos Santos. After the lawsuits submitted by Caixa, BCP and Novo Banco at the end of last year, it was Montepio’s turn to file a 40.1 million euros lawsuit against Winterfell II, the company through which the Angolan businesswoman controlled Efacec.
The lawsuit against Winterfell II was brought before the Lisbon District Court on Tuesday. The value asked is 40,107,260 euros.
These 40 million euros are equivalent to the amount that Banco Montepio lent to Isabel dos Santos (through Winterfell) to purchase a share of Portuguese company Efacec in 2015, a company that is now in the public sphere following the nationalisation decreed by the government in the middle of last year.
At the time, Isabel dos Santos obtained financing from several national banks totalling 160 million euros to acquire 72% of the Portuguese company. Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), BCP and Novo Banco financed Winterfell Industries with 40 million euros and Winterfell II with 30 million euros. On top of this, there were loans from Banco Montepio (40 million), BPI (25 million) and BIC (25 million) to Winterfell.
The lawsuit filed this week by Banco Montepio was already expected, after the ones submitted by Caixa, Novo Banco and BCP in November (targeting Winterfell II) and December (targeting Isabel dos Santos and Winterfell Industries).
In one of the lawsuits filed on November 18, CGD, BCP and Novo Banco demanded 18.5 million euros. In the other, BCP and Novo Banco demanded 10.3 million. According to the newspaper Expresso, with these lawsuits, the banks intend to ensure the right to future compensation for the nationalisation of Efacec.
Meanwhile, in a new lawsuit submitted on December 25, these three banks are claiming 26.4 million euros.
