Minsheng takes on US funds in bidding for Portuguese bank

China's Minsheng Financial Holding, US funds Apollo and Centerbridge - plus the private equity firm Lone Star - are leading attempts to buy Portugal's Novo Banco, which was carved out of Banco Espirito Santo (BES) in 2014, four sources told Reuters.

Minsheng has offered to buy a majority stake in Novo Banco, to be followed by an initial public offering of the remainder, while an Apollo-Centerbridge combination and Lone Star have also made bids for all of the bank, the sources said on Tuesday.

Portugal salvaged the "good bank" in a 4.9 billion euros ($5.22 billion) rescue of BES, which collapsed under the weight of debts of its founding family, and has said it hopes to decide on Novo Banco's sale by the end of 2016, ahead of an August 2017 deadline.