The procedure, known as “Project Horizon”, is being handled by the consultancy firm KPMG and includes a varied range of assets such as loans, land, buildings, and equity interests. Potential investors are currently being approached; binding offers are due by October, with the sale to be completed by the end of the year.

The offering comprises unlicensed land located in the municipalities of Loures, Vila Franca de Xira, and Tavira, worth €56 million, which acts as security for a debt of €65 million. It also includes a 17-storey office building in Maputo, Mozambique, valued at €20 million, together with a debt of €25 million.

Nearly all units of the “Promoção e Turismo” Special Alternative Investment Fund (FIAE) are also part of the sale; the fund was set up in 2016 to manage the group's real estate assets as part of a financial restructuring plan that the Bank of Portugal considered unrealistic.

The deal also involves the sale by the bank of its majority interests in the real estate firms Promovalor and Inland, companies which came within the bank's control as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice in February. That judgment confirmed the legality of converting €160 million into Mandatorily Convertible Securities (VMOCs) which had been issued in 2011 and subscribed by BES.

Novobanco aims to pass on to future investors the right to make contractual claims amounting to €352 million against the former main shareholder and the ultimate beneficial owners of the group by writing off these stakes, which are shown on the balance sheet at zero value.