Brazil's BTG Pactual Sells Portion of Holding in BR Properties
December 15 2015 - 5:08AM
Dow Jones News
By Rogerio Jelmayer
SAO PAULO--Troubled Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual SA
sold a portion of its holding in real-estate investment firm BR
Properties SA as the lender aimed to raise cash and improve its
liquidity.
The bank said it sold, though an auction at the local exchange,
a stake equivalent to 463 million reais ($119 million). The company
didn't provide further details about the portion sold or the name
of the buyer.
Before the transaction, BTG had held 35.9%, or 107 million
shares, of BR Properties, according to the company's website.
The sale comes as BTG attempts to raise cash following the
recent arrest of Andre Esteves, its former chairman and chief
executive, as part of Brazil's largest-ever corruption
investigation. Mr. Esteves remains jailed in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr. Esteves, the founder and public face of rapidly growing BTG,
Brazil's sixth-largest bank in terms of assets, was arrested Nov.
25 on allegations that he and a Brazilian senator had tried to
interfere with a criminal investigation.
Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Esteves and Sen. Delcidio do
Amaral with obstructing justice. Brazilian authorities alleged Mr.
Esteves and the senator attempted to buy the silence of a key
witness involved in the corruption investigation of oil major
Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras.
Both men have denied wrongdoing through their lawyers.
Days after Mr. Esteves's arrest, BTG announced the sale of a
stake in local hospital operator Rede D'Or Sao Luiz for 2.4 billon
reais to Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd. It has also
been selling loan portfolios to local banks.
BTG has confirmed it is considering the sale of several other
assets, including BSI, the Swiss bank it acquired from Italy's
Assicurazioni Generali SpA (G.MI) for 1.25 billion Swiss francs
($1.27 billion) last year, as well as debt-collection firm Recovery
and retailer Leader Participacoes SA.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 15, 2015 04:53 ET (09:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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