Alantra advised BMN on its merger project with Bankia
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Alantra advised Spanish BMN on its merger project with Bankia. BMN is a state-owned bank (65%) that was formed in 2010 after the merger of four Spanish saving banks (Caja Murcia, Caixa Penedes, Caja Granada and Sa Nostra). The entity has c. €40bn of assets and is one of the leading banks in the Spanish Mediterranean Basin (namely in Balearic Island, Murcia and Granada).
The merger project of Bankia, in which the Spanish State has also a controlling stake (c.66%), and Bm would form the fourth largest Spanish bank with over €230bn of assets.
Alantra has a strong financial sector expertise in Southern Europe, with a special focus on distressed banking situations, with active mandates in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Romania. Its track record in this segment includes, among others: advising Spanish Fund for Orderly Restructuring on the privatization of Catalunya Banc by means of the sale of a carved-out portfolio of poorer quality loans (mainly mortgages) amounting €6.4bn Gross Book Value to Blackstone, and the rest of Catalunya Banc to BBVA for €1.2bn; advising Portuguese Banif on its sale to Santander Totta; advising in the sale process of the Portuguese bank BBI to the Chinese group Bison Capital; advising Hellenic Bank in the creation of the first servicer in Cyprus (€2.4bn of AuM); advising Spanish Kutxabank on the sale of its real estate subsidiary, Grupo Neinor, to Lonestar for €930m; advising to the cantonal banks (23) in the sale of Swisscanto Group to Zurich Cantonal Bank; advising to BCI (Costa Rica) in the acquisition of City National Bank (USD946m) and in the sale of a 40% stake in BCI to Mutua Madrileña (USD222m); advising to SIX Group on the sale of its credit card issuing business in Austria to Easybank; and has also participated in the capital increases of Popular, Sabadell and Liberbank.
