Africa-Press – Cape verde. Potential investors have already been selected and, having submitted indicative acquisition intentions, were admitted to participate in the BCA acquisition process. It should be remembered that through Banco Interatlântico in Cape Verde, Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) controls 52.65% of BCA, in addition to its own stake of 6.76%.
Last Thursday, the Portuguese Government, in the Council of Ministers, selected investors to participate in the sale of shares that Caixa Geral de Depósitos holds in Banco Comercial do Atlântico, in Cape Verde.
According to Jornal Económico, iiB Bank (International Investment Bank) is one of the three interested parties and recent news reveals that it is well positioned to buy Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA).
According to the same source, the chairman of iiB Group, Sultan Sohail, confirms the Bahraini group’s interest in the Cape Verdean bank that Caixa has put up for sale and explains the rationale behind the deal.
iiB Group expects the process to be completed by the end of the first half of 2024
“Inorganically, the focus now is to continue to grow our African franchise. And, specifically, we expressed interest in acquiring Banco Comercial do Atlântico”, said Sohail, adding that he hopes the process will be completed by the end of the first half of 2024.
The Government thus once again gives CGD the green light to move forward with the sale of its shareholding in Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA), in which it holds 59.81% of the capital. Remember that there had already been an attempt to sell the bank.
Next steps
After the publication of the Resolution of the Council of Ministers in the Official Gazette, which is expected to occur in the next few days, “selected investors will be invited to carry out informative inquiries, being given access to additional information about the asset, in order to proceed to the presentation of binding proposals for the acquisition of shares during the 4th quarter of the year”, according to a CGD source.
In the statement from the Council of Ministers it is said that “the resolution was approved that selects potential investors to participate in the process of selling the shareholdings held by Caixa Geral de Depósitos in the share capital of Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA) and that approves the notebook of charges that defines the specific conditions applicable to the sale”.
Sale of BCA is part of CGD Group’s restructuring plan
In July, the president of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) said that there were “some interested parties” and that he was awaiting authorization from the Government to continue with the sale process.
CGD, owned by the Portuguese State, announced in 2019 a process of selling its stake in BCA, within the scope of the restructuring plan approved by the European Commission, opting to remain in the Cape Verdean market only with Banco Interatlântico, but the Covid pandemic -19 ended up conditioning the entire process, which did not move forward.
Through Banco Interatlântico, which it also holds in Cape Verde, CGD controls 52.65% of BCA, in addition to its own stake of 6.76%. The largest bank in Cape Verde, which Caixa Geral de Depósitos wants to sell, recorded record profits of 16.3 million euros in 2022, according to the report and accounts consulted by Lusa.
Caixa will remain in the Cape Verdean market, but only with Banco Interatlântico.
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