Spain’s Caixabank has confirmed it has bid for full control of Portugal’s third-largest lender BPI bank. The Barcelona-based lender was one of Spain’s most acquisitive banks during the financial crisis, offsetting falling profitability in the country’s market by buying up smaller savings banks hit hard by the property market crash.

Caixabank also confirmed it plans to pursue an acquisition of the state-rescued Novo Bank which Portugal hopes to sell in the first half of this year to recover 4.9 billion euros in rescue loans.

That acquisition would put the Spanish bank in a position to challenge for market leadership in Portugal.