Bordeaux, France, 13 Feb – Portugal’s Banco Espírito Santo (BES) wants to boost its presence in the Angolan market via investment banking, said executive director of Banco Espírito Santo de Investimento (BESI), Luís Luna Vaz in Bordeaux.

According to Portuguese financial daily Diário Económico, Luna Vaz said that the new investment bank would, initially, be owned directly by BES Angola and thus opening up its capital to local investors was a possibility.

BES Angola is 80 percent owned by BES and 20 percent by Geni, the holding company for the shareholdings of Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the Angolan president.

The investment bank would make it possible to increase activities in Angola to mergers and acquisitions operations and capital markets, including trading activities as the bank is also considering opening a brokerage.

In 2007, 70 percent of BESI’s profit, of 73 million euros, came from its international markets. (macauhub)