Deputies of the Committee on Economy, Public Works, Planning and Housing approved this Wednesday the hearing of the Minister of Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva, on the reprivatization process of Efacec.
The request to hear Costa Silva’s case was submitted by the Liberal Initiative (IL) and approved unanimously.
In the submitted request, IL MPs state that the goal is to “clarify the status of the privatization process so that Parliament and the Portuguese can know the reasons for the constant delays in completing the operation, as well as the expected costs.” taxpayers.”
“The Minister of Economy and Maritime Affairs has assured the Commission that the Efacec privatization process will be completed at the end of July and that at that time he will inform the Commission about the details of the privatization process. We Now, in September, neither the minister responsible for privatization nor any other member of the government has provided any information about the failure to complete the process within the expected time frame,” they claim.
The Efacec bondholders’ general meeting scheduled for the 12th was adjourned to October 12 after an agreement was reached with a “significant majority” of bondholders to consider a proposal to amend the terms of the bonds to be voted on at the meeting.
According to the Eco newspaper, a new proposal has emerged regarding the losses that bondholders will suffer when selling the company to the German fund Mutares: instead of losing 50% of their investment, the discount will now be 10%.
The operation is crucial for the government to complete the sale of 71.73% of Efacec’s capital to a German fund, as announced in early June.
“With the new offer, instead of losing €29 million as originally planned, bondholders will lose just €5.8 million as part of efforts to rescue the company, which was nationalized in 2020 after the Luanda Leaks affair broke out. The haircut is only valid if the sale of Efacec to Mutares is completed, which must happen by November 30,” says Eko.
On June 7, the government approved Mutares’ proposal to privatize Efacec without disclosing the amount.
The state has invested €132 million in Efacec, in addition to a further €85 million in guarantees, with the Minister of Economy and the Sea saying he has “high hopes” that this amount can be repaid.
On June 23, Mutares announced that it had already signed an agreement to buy Efacec from the government for an undisclosed amount and that the deal was expected to be completed in the third quarter.
A new process to re-privatize the government’s 71.73% stake in Efacec was approved by the government in November last year with new specifications after it was announced on October 28 that the sale of the company to the DST group had not been completed because “all the necessary conditions” of the purchase agreement were sales were not honored.
As part of the reprivatization process, Efacec Parpública received improved binding offers from four candidates: Mutares, Oaktree, Oxy Capital and Agrupamento Visabeira-Sodecia, with the German group ultimately selected.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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