State holding company Parpública said today that the remaining 11% of the shares in Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) still owned by the public are to be sold by June partly through a public offer, with the balance being reserved for selected institutions.
"This phase of the privatisation of the company will include a public offer in Portugal aimed at retail investors and a private placement directed at institutional investors within and outside Portugal and it is expected to be completed by the end of June 2014," reads a statement posted on the Securities Market Commission’s website.
For disposal are 58.7 million shares held by Parpública and Caixa Geral de Depósitos on behalf of the public.
Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Caixa BI will be handling the sale.
REN employees have not been forgotten as they have access to a reserved bloc of shares which they can buy but not sell for 90 days.
The government intends to use the estimated €150 million proceeds of the transaction to repay a small fraction of the nation's €225.8 billion debt pile. The shares are pitched at €2.80, a 5.8% premium to last week’s closing price.
In the first phase of privatisation State Grid International Development Limited and the Oman Oil Company paid €432 million for a 40% stake in REN. State Grid International Ltd is a subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China.
