By Patricia Kowsmann
LISBON-- Isabel dos Santos, Africa's wealthiest woman and the
second-largest shareholder of Portugal's Banco BPI SA, on Monday
reacted to a takeover bid for that bank by a Spanish lender by
suggesting another deal instead: a merger between BPI and Banco
Comercial Portugues SA, Portugal's largest bank by
capitalization.
Last month, Spain's Caixabank SA offered to buy the 55.9% of BPI
that it doesn't already own for EUR1.329 a share in cash. If
successful, the Spanish bank would become the dominant bank across
the Iberian Peninsula. Shares of BPI closed Monday at EUR1.36,
suggesting Caixabank will likely have to raise its offer if it
wants to convince shareholders about the deal.
Ms. dos Santos, who is the daughter of Angola's president and
the second largest shareholder in BPI, has remained silent on the
deal, until now.
A person familiar with the situation said BPI, Banco Comercial
Portugues and Caixabank received a letter from Santoro, Ms. dos
Santos vehicle that owns 18.6% of BPI, laying out the reasons why
BPI and Banco Comercial Portugues should discuss a merger. Banco
Comercial Portugues's largest shareholder is Angola's state oil
company Sonangol Group, with close to 20%.
According to the person, the letter said the merger would form a
large Portuguese bank with operations at home and in Angola,
Mozambique and Poland.
A Banco Comercial Portugues spokesman declined to comment.
Representatives for BPI and Caixabank weren't immediately available
to comment. On Monday evening, Caixabank Chairman Isidro Fainé said
negotiations between Spain's No. 3 bank and BPI shareholders were
still underway. "The game has just started," he told journalists in
Barcelona at a presentation.
Shares of Banco Comercial Portugues, or BCP, were up 7% at
EUR0.089, while BPI shares were up 9% at EUR1.48.
Jeannette Neumann in Madrid also contributed to this
article.
Write to Patricia Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com
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