DLA Piper advises Lone Star Funds on the sale of novobanco to BPCE

DLA Piper in collaboration with Weil, Gotshal & Manges have advised Nani Holdings S.à. r.l., an affiliate of Lone Star Funds, in relation to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the sale of Novo Banco, S.A. (“novobanco”), Portugal’s fourth-largest bank, to BPCE, a leading European banking institution, for a cash consideration payable at closing which values 100% of the share capital at an estimated EUR6.4 billion as of end 2025. DLA Piper advised on all Portuguese law matters.

This transaction marks the culmination of a multi-year transformation of novobanco since Lone Star acquired 75% of the bank in 2017, a deal which both Weil and DLA Piper also advised on. Under Lone Star’s stewardship, in cooperation with other shareholders, novobanco has undergone a comprehensive turn-around, establishing itself as one of the most profitable banks in Europe.

The DLA Piper Portugal team was led by DLA Piper Portugal’s Managing Partner, and head of corporate and finance department, Nuno Azevedo Neves who was assisted in the core team by partners Vanessa Antunes and Mariana Ricardo, by senior associates Ana Isabel Vieira, Sofia Oliveira Moiteiro, Ricardo Violante Teixeira and Bruno Soares Ferreira, and associates Sara de Faria Moreira and Gustavo de Almeida Neves.

The Weil team was led by Private Equity partner Max Oppenheimer assisted by Jamie Macdonagh and Ian Hamilton, Arisa Manawapat, Will Johnson, Alexander Long and Armand Chateau. The wider team included Tax partner Jenny Doak and associate Enda Kerin, Incentives counsel Kevin Donegan, Antitrust partner Neil Rigby and counsel Anna Zanazzo, Private Funds associate Kate Bystryk, Disputes partner Chris Marks and associate Craig Watson, and Structured Finance partner Jacky Kelly. The European team included Florian Wessel and Laurin Schmidt in Munich, and Emmanuelle Henry in Paris.