Portugal state buys 5.3% REN stake, lifting holding to 19%
Portugal state buys 5.3% REN stake, lifting holding to 19% LISBON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Portugal's state holding company Parpublica has agreed to buy a 5.3% stake in power and gas grid operator REN RENE.LS from insurer Fidelidade, controlled by China's Fosun 0656.HK, completing the government's push to rebuild a strategic stake in REN that has now reached 19%.
In August, the state bought a 13.7% stake in REN, marking its return to the company after a 12-year hiatus. The government said then it aimed to increase the stake to as much as 20%.
China's State Grid is REN's largest shareholder with a 25% stake.
Portugal's Finance Ministry said in a statement late on Friday that the acquisition was intended to "defend the public interest and preserve a strategic asset for the country", adding that the "government considered its objective in REN achieved."
The government did not disclose the value of the deal, but based on REN's market value, the 5.3% stake is worth roughly 125 million euros ($140 million).
The acquisition is in line with Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's plan, announced in June, to create a sovereign wealth fund holding stakes in strategically important companies.
A Fidelidade spokesperson said its stake in REN had always been primarily a financial investment, and the decision to sell it was driven, among other reasons, by the asset's more than 40% increase in value over the past two years.
($1 = 0.8927 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip)
((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters Messaging: sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net/))