Banking

Bank of China eyes stake in Portugal BPI

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-09 16:39

Interested in Africa, may mull stake in BPI or BFA

LISBON - Bank of China Ltd is considering taking a stake in Portugal's third largest listed bank Banco BPI or its Angolan operation BFA, a top Bank of China official said on Monday.

"We have not discussed it now (taking a stake), but in the future we could discuss it," visiting Bank of China Vice President Chen Siqing said after signing a partnership agreement with BPI, when asked by reporters if buying into BPI was on the cards.

He said Bank of China was particularly interested in BPI's strong presence in Africa. BPI has a 50.1 percent in stake in Angola's largest commercial bank BFA. The rest is owned by Angolan telecoms groups UNITEL.

The agreement follows a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Portugal over the weekend during which he promised to help the Iberian country cope with the impact of the global financial crisis and boost trade ties.

BPI chief executive Fernando Ulrich also said he saw a scope for developing the planned partnership in the future with the possibility that the Bank of China could buy into BPI or BFA.

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He saw "a wide range of opportunities" for direct financing from China and said that BPI could get a financing line from the Bank of China in the future.

"This partnership encompasses that the banks have financing lines in order to secure payment flows," he said.

"As for direct financing, we have to give some time for the Chinese financial institutions to get to know Portugal better and build confidence, and then we see a great range of opportuinities for the furture of this partnership," he said.

Other agreements included a joint effort to identify business opportunities by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) - the world's biggest lender by market value - and Portugal's largest listed bank Millennium BCP.

Portuguese media have said ICBC could buy a minority stake in BCP, whose stocks rose 1.8 percent.