Uría Menéndez - Proença de Carvalho has advised Cofidis Participations on the acquisition of Banco Banif Mais. The acquisition was one of the first carried out in Portugal within the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, after the European Central Bank issued a non-objection decision. The EUR 410 million transaction also encompasses the purchase of a Portuguese insurance mediator, Margem Seguros, and the operation of Banif Mais in other countries, such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The parties have also executed a memorandum of understanding for a close and long-term partnership between Banif Mais and the Banif Group in several areas.  The group, which specialised in consumer credit, particularly auto-financing, had to be capitalised by the Portuguese State in 2012 and is now disposing of non-core assets to reimburse the investment made by the State and reinforce its capital ratios. 

Consumer credit

Cofidis Participations is the holding company of the Cofidis group, established in 1982 and leader in the consumer credit area, with an outstanding credit portfolio of approximately EUR 10.5 billion in 2014. Cofidis has been in Portugal since 1996 and in 2014 its outstanding credit portfolio corresponded to approximately EUR 830 million. With this acquisition, Cofidis Participations plans to develop and leverage its activities in Portugal with a stronger presence in the auto financing sector. Likewise, the operations until now carried by Banif Mais will have access to the various different markets where Cofidis is present.

The team

M&A partner Carlos Costa Andrade headed up the team at Uría Menéndez-Proença de Carvalho advising Cofidis Participations, with tax partner Marta Pontes, competition law counsel Joaquim Caimoto Duarte and managing associate Tânia Luisa Faria, working with associates Manuel Cordeiro Ferreira (M&A), Diogo Tavares (M&A), Marta Presas (Labour), Joana Mota (Intellectual Property) and Rita Themido (Insurance). Uría Menéndez - Proença de Carvalho has been advising Cofidis Participations together with Bredin Prat, the French law firm from the “Best Friends” network of Uría Menéndez.