The agreement, which had been in place for more than two years, stipulated that the Chinese KWG group would buy 80.1 percent of NIB Europe. However, due to the presence of covid-19 and the impact that this pandemic could have on the economy, the Chinese have turned back. The Portuguese bank thus remains the responsibility of its sole shareholder, the Angolan BNI Bank.
The decision was communicated this Wednesday through a note signed by the bank's manager, Pedro Pinto Coelho.
"Banco BNI Europa informs that, although all the conditions for the sale of an 80.1 percent stake in its share capital have been met, the prospective acquirer informed the seller of its intention not to honour the contract for the acquisition of a qualified stake entered into in December 2017, citing circumstances related to the current context of uncertainty affecting the international economy and, in particular, the financial system," the Portuguese bank's note indicates.
With the withdrawal of the Chinese, the bank remains in the hands of its sole shareholder, which since 2016 has been trying to sell its shares in the Portuguese bank.
According to Expresso, the Angolan bank, owned by Mário Palhares, has invested in BNI Europe: in March 4.4 million euros were injected. The 'hope' would be that, with the purchase of the bank, the money would be put back by the Chinese, however, this scenario will not happen.
Now, "the board of directors of Banco BNI Europa and Banco BNI, its sole shareholder, will review the bank's business plan, adapting it to the new circumstances and the current moment of the world economy", the Portuguese bank states, stressing that "it intends to continue to affirm itself as a reference in the new generation 'fintech' in European banking through the introduction of innovation and the filling of segments and offers aimed at clients with needs that are not being met by other financial operators in the market".
