Lisbon, April 30, 2026 (Lusa) - Lone Star Funds' Nani Holdings announced on Thursday that it had successfully concluded the sale of Novo Banco to the French group BPCE, which is now set to support the Portuguese bank’s long-term development.

"Novo Banco will now operate as part of BPCE, benefiting from the scale, experience and resources of one of Europe’s largest banking groups to support its continued growth and long-term development," it said in a statement.

The sale of Novo Banco was completed on Thursday, with the bank being sold to BPCE for €6.7 billion.

Lone Star acquired a 75% stake in Novo Banco in 2017, paying no purchase price but investing €1 billion to recapitalise the bank.

The approximately €5 billion Lone Star will receive from the sale, added to the dividends already received, represents a significant capital gain compared to the €1 billion it invested in the bank upon its 2017 acquisition.

Lone Star explained that "in accordance with the purchase price mechanism agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding of June 2025 and in the subsequent acquisition agreements of August and October 2025, the final acquisition price as at 31 December 2025 was set at €6.5 billion, implying a price-to-earnings multiple of 7.85 based on the 2025 net profit of €828 million".

The firm added that, with the increase in Novo Banco’s equity carried out during the first four months of 2026, the total purchase price for 100% of the bank’s share capital amounted to €6.7 billion as at 30 April 2026.

PD/MYAL //  ADB.

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