António Costa Silva believes that Mutares’ proposal “ensures the maintenance of Efacec as a major technological and industrial project” and ends up minimizing “the burden on the State”.
The Minister of Economy and Sea, António Costa Silva, announced this Wednesday the sale of 71.73% of Efacec’s capital to the German fund Mutares, in a press conference attended by the Secretary of State for Finance, João Nuno Mendes.
“Today an electronic Council of Ministers took place to select the proposal submitted by the German Mutares for the privatization of Efacec,” the minister announced.
António Costa Silva believes that Mutares’ proposal “ensures the maintenance of Efacec as a major technological and industrial project”, minimizes “the burden on the State”, while “preserving the workforce, by investing in qualifications, and reinforcing the company’s engineering capabilities”.
A consortium formed by Visabeira and Sodecia, as well as two private equity funds, the Portuguese Oxy Capital and Oaktree, were also in the running to buy the controlling stake belonging to the Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos.
The State has injected 132 million Euros in Efacec, to which are added another 85 million Euros in guarantees, according to the Minister of Economy. “So far, the State has injected 132 million Euros, plus 85 million Euros in guarantees”, indicated António Costa Silva, in response to journalists at the Ministry of Economy.
The minister also advanced that, in principle, the Germans will even acquire 100% of the company. Costa Silva said he has “great expectations” that the value can be recovered.
The remaining shares belong to the José de Mello Group, with 14%, and Têxtil Manuel Gonçalves, which holds 14.27%.
The company led by Ângelo Ramalho closed the year with an operating loss of 90.6 million euros. The company’s financial situation is increasingly difficult, which has forced the state to make large capital injections.
