The online edition of Expresso newspaper said the interested parties – Portuguese banks BPI and BCP and the Apollo Management Centerbridge, Lone Star and China Minsheng Financial Holding funds have been notified to present their final bids by 4 November.
BPI, BCP, Apollo Management Centerbridge and Lone Star all want to buy Novo Banco outright, while China Minsheng Financial Holding, which is part of the Chinese group Minsheng wants a capital increase.
On 3 August 2014, the Bank of Portugal took control of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), after the bank presented a half-yearly loss of €3.6 billion, and announced the bank would be split into two.
The bad bank, a vehicle that kept the name of BES, stayed with the toxic assets and liabilities and all the shareholders.
The good bank was rebranded as Novo Banco, which kept the assets and liabilities that were not considered to be problematic and all the clients.