In a report by the Financial Times, Centerbridge, a private equity group from the US and Anacap, a London based firm, are two of the top bidders in discussions for the purchase of one of the smaller nationalized lenders of Spain.
These two firms form part of a larger consortium, as there is another American buyout group that is bidding for EVO Banco. EVO Banco is one of the subsidiaries for NCG Banco, a bank bailed out using state funds. The report was published on the newspaper's website and it cited individuals privy to the discussions being conducted.
NCG Banco declined to make any comment on the bidding or its participants. A spokesperson did say that the bank would decide on the sale of the subsidiary, with its network of 80 branches located in Asturias, Galicia and Leaon within this month. The spokesperson also confirned that five bidder had forwarded their non-binding offers for the unit with the binding bids now deemed submitted.
The mother insitutution is also set to be auctioned off in the next few weeks and this would be a tougher test for the state to divest its shareholdings over the rescued bank. This is due to the lack of investors purchasing the bailed out Spanish banks after the 2008 property crash but their assets have been quickly snapped up by funds and other investors.
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