UPDATE 1-Portugal sells Novo Banco to Lone Star for 1 bln euro capital injection
(Updates background, details)
Portugal has agreed to sell a 75 percent stake in state-rescued lender Novo Banco to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star in exchange for a capital injection of 1 billion euros into the institution, the Bank of Portugal said on Friday.
"The sale is an important step for stability of the banking system," Bank of Portugal Gov. Carlos Costa told reporters. "The agreement allows to meet the deadline set jointly with the European Commission for the sale of Novo Banco."
Portugal's Bank Resolution Fund will retain the remaining 25 percent stake in Novo Banco, which is the bridge bank carved out of Banco Espirito Santo, which collapsed in August 2014. The country injected 4.9 billion euros, mostly via the resolution fund, into the "good bank".
Under the terms of the deal, Lone Star will inject 750 million euros when the deal is formally closed and another 250 million within three years.
Also, Novo Banco will swap 500 million euros of senior bonds for new bonds as means to reinforce its common equity Tier 1 capital ratio before Lone Star takes over the bank.
The Bank of Portugal said a contingent capital mechanism will be set up to meet potential capital needs at the bank worth up to 3.89 billion euros, explaining that the mechanism did not represent any guarantee to cover any losses.
The sale is the end of a long process that started with the emergency rescue of BES, which at that time was Portugal's largest listed bank. BES collapsed under the weight of the debts of its founding family and an investigation is still ongoing.
A first attempt to sell Novo Banco failed in 2015 as bids came in far below the rescue amount, stirring investor concerns about the already flagging banking sector's contributions to the Bank Resolution Fund.
In March, the government extended the maturities on state loans to the resolution fund by nearly three decades to 2046 to avoid imposing extra costs on the banking sector.
The sale was also complicated by a decision, late in 2015, by the central bank to transfer some bonds from Novo Banco back to "bad bank" BES, thus boosting Novo Banco's capital. A group of bondholders, including Pimco and BlackRock, have challenged the decision in the court.
(Reporting By Sergio Goncalves, writing by Andrei Khalip, editing by Axel Bugge and David Evans)
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Sulla Reuters un piccolo dettaglio in più ... non si parla più di ZC, ma di "altri" nuovi bond.