Spain/Portugal: Abanca launches fourth purchase operation, goes after Caixa Geral

The Spanish banking network Abanca, owned by Venezuelan businessman Juan Carlos Escotet, is looking for a new purchase, snatching up Portuguese bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the largest financial institution in that country and in the process of being sold by the Portuguese State. Other companies competing for the Caixa include the Spanish company Cajamar, as well as foreign investment funds.

Caixa accounts for 500 employees and a hundred offices spread mainly across Extremadura, Madrid and Galicia, where Abanca is a market leader.

The operation is already far advanced and it is expected that in the coming weeks the Portuguese Government will reveal the bidders selected for the final phase. The sale should be resolved between July and September, with a deadline imposed by the government for December 2019.

Abanca would be embarking on its fourth purchase operation since its arrival in the country. Previously, it clinched the acquisition of the financial branch of Banco Popular and the Deutsche Bank network in Portugal, and was very close to walking away with the Spanish division of the German bank too.

Full Content: La Voz de Galicia

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