BPCE has completed its takeover of novobanco, acquiring the Portuguese lender in full from the Portuguese State, the Resolution Fund and Lone Star Funds.
The French banking group said the agreed price mechanism set the value of the deal at €6.5bn as of 31 December 2025, based on arrangements outlined in the June 2025 memorandum of understanding and later purchase agreements signed in August and October 2025.
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Using novobanco’s 2025 net profit of €828m, the transaction reflected a price-to-earnings multiple of 7.85.
After an increase in novobanco’s equity in the first four months of 2026, the total price reached €6.7bn as of 30 April 2026.
The acquisition adds to BPCE’s operations in Portugal, where it already has activities in Porto through a multi-business centre of expertise, Banco Primus and Oney.
BPCE said the deal raises its exposure to the Portuguese market and changes its interest-rate mix through a higher proportion of variable-rate lending.
novobanco CEO Mark Bourke said: “Becoming part of BPCE is the beginning of an important new chapter for novobanco, allowing us to build on our strategy and further enhance our role in financing the Portuguese economy.
“With the backing of a leading European banking group, we will strengthen our financial capacity and expand the expertise we can bring to our clients, across both retail and corporate banking.”
With novobanco included, BPCE workforce in Portugal will be close to 8,000.
Novobanco holds a 9% share of the Portuguese banking market overall. The bank has roughly 300 branches, about 4,100 employees and 1.7 million clients.
Its loan book includes €18.2bn in corporate lending, €11.1bn in home loans and €2.7bn in personal lending.
For 2025, novobanco posted €1.6bn in net banking income and net profit attributable to the group of €828m.
novobanco would remain under local management in Portugal.
Mark Bourke will stay on as chief executive and report to Jacques Beyssade, Secretary General and member of BPCE’s Senior Management Committee.
BPCE CEO Nicolas Namias commented: “We are happy and proud to welcome novobanco into BPCE and to strengthen our long-term commitment to Portugal. Following the acquisition of BPCE Equipment Solutions in 2025, we are demonstrating our ability to carry out major external growth transactions that strengthen our presence in Europe, in line with our Vision 2030 strategic project.”
