Brazil's BTG Pactual Sells Its Rede D'Or Stake for $616 Million
December 02 2015 - 8:20AM
Dow Jones News
SÃ O PAULO—Troubled Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual SA on
Wednesday said it sold its remaining 12% stake in the local
hospital operator Rede D'Or Sã o Luiz for 2.38 billion reais ($616
million) to Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd.
BTG and Rede D'Or's controlling shareholder—the Moll family—sold
a 16% stake in the hospital group to GIC in May.
The move comes as BTG is trying to raise cash following last
Wednesday's arrest of André Esteves, its controlling shareholder,
as part of Brazil's largest-ever corruption investigation. Mr.
Esteves remains jailed in Rio de Janeiro.
BTG has been hit with a wave of investor withdrawals following
the arrest of Mr. Esteves in connection with the probe centered on
state-run oil giant Petró leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Esteves attempted to bribe a key witness to
keep him from providing testimony that could implicate the banker
in the scandal.
Mr. Esteves has previously denied wrongdoing. He resigned as the
bank's chairman and chief executive on Sunday.
BTG's unit shares have plunged more than 30% in recent days, and
the bank lost its investment grade status from Moody's Investors
Service. The ratings agency downgraded BTG's rating by two notches
to Ba2 from Baa3 late Tuesday and kept it under review for
potential further downgrade.
Rede D'Or operates close to 30 hospitals in four Brazilian
states. Earlier this year, Brazil´ s government ended the ban on
foreign ownership in the hospital sector, attracting the interest
of several international groups.
Rede D' Or is controlled by the Moll family, which continues to
be Rede Do'r largest shareholder. In April, private-equity firm
Carlyle Group LP said it was investing 1.75 billion Brazilian reais
for an 8.3% stake in Rede D'Or.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com and
Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 02, 2015 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)
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