Spain’s Caixabank raises offer for Portuguese bank BPI

CaixaBank, Spain’s third biggest lender, on Wednesday increased its offer for BPI after shareholders in the Portuguese bank agreed to end voting-rights limits, paving the way for the fresh takeover bid.

The Barcelona-based lender offered 1.134 euros in cash per share for the 55 percent of BPI which it does not already own, it said in a regulatory filing.

CaixaBank had offered 1.113 euros per share in April when it launched its second takeover bid for the Portuguese lender.

The new offer came just hours after BPI shareholders scrapped a 20 percent cap on shareholders’ voting rights — a key condition CaixaBank had set for its takeover offer.

The moves followed months of jockeying over a majority stake BPI holds in the top bank in oil and diamond rich Angola, a former Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa.

Tighter rules from the European Central Bank mean BPI and CaixaBank need to put aside more money for potential losses by Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA).

CaixaBank has for months been trying to work out a deal with investor Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who owns an 18.6 percent stake in BPI.

BPI announced late Tuesday it was ready to sell a two percent stake in BFA to a mobile operator controlled by dos Santos. This would drop its holding in BFA to a minority stake and reduce the need to set aside money for potential losses.

Shareholders present at Wednesday’s meeting told local media that representatives of dos Santos abstained from the vote, although she has previously opposed the changes that weaken her ability to block decisions using her minority stake in BPI.

BPI shares, whose trading on the Lisbon stock market was suspended ahead of opening Wednesday, closed 0.4 percent lower at 1.09 euros the previous day.

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