The Angolan government has already announced the official sale of 15% of Banco de Fomento de Angola through an initial public offering. JE has learned that BPI, in order to avoid becoming the majority shareholder in BFA, will monitor the Angolan bank’s IPO and will also sell 15% of its capital on the stock exchange.
The Angolan government has already announced the official sale of 15% of Banco de Fomento de Angola (BFA) through an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock exchange. The presidential decree authorizing the privatization of state-owned shares, through public subscription, through Unitel, representing 15% of BFA’s capital, was published in the local Official Gazette.
This operation is part of the João Lourenço government’s privatization program, PROPRIV – 2023 to 2026.
Jornal Económico (JE) learns that BPI, another shareholder in BFA with a 48.1% stake, is preparing to accompany Unitel in selling 15% of the Angolan bank on the stock exchange. 30% of BFA’s capital will then be listed on the Luanda Stock Exchange, according to sources close to the Angolan bank’s operation.
When contacted, BPI did not comment. But JE understands that BPI is finalizing details for selling 15% in the BFA IPO as well.
The sale of 15% to Unitel and 15% to BPI means that BFA is now 36.9% owned by Unitel and 33.1% by BPI, thus maintaining the current balance of power between shareholders.
As we know, taking into account that BFA’s capital currently belongs 51.9% to Unitel and 48.1% to BPI, a simple dispersion of 15% by Unitel again leaves BPI as the largest shareholder of the Angolan bank, which is contrary to the recommendation of the ECB and would mean a change in the way in which BFA results are consolidated. This is after BPI decided, in 2019, to change the way in which Banco Fomento de Angola (BFA) is consolidated as a matter of “prudence”, with the Portuguese bank now recording in its accounts only the profits distributed by BFA.
Consequently, the financial institution is no longer considered an “associate,” consolidated through the equity equation, but is now classified as a financial investment in “equities at fair value through other comprehensive income/other comprehensive income,” the bank explained at the time.
Ten years ago, the European supervisor forced BPI to sell 2% of its position in the BFA (later reduced to the current 48.1%) because it deemed the bank’s exposure to Angola too high.
The unbundling of BFA into BPI allowed the bank not to exceed the key risk limit imposed by the European Central Bank in 2014.
BPI has made several attempts to reduce its participation in the BFA.
It is noteworthy that in 2023, BPI suspended the sale of its 48.1% stake in Banco de Fomento Angola, for which negotiations were already underway with two candidates, due to the devaluation of the local currency.
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