Spanish savings bank Bancaja has sold its 5.176% stake in Metrovacesa to the local investment company Hemisferio for EUR 632 mln. Bancaja said it sold almost 5.27 million Metrovacesa's shares at EUR 120 each, meaning Metrovacesa's chairman Joaquin Rivero has lost an ally, Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias has reported.
Spanish savings bank Bancaja has sold its 5.176% stake in Metrovacesa to the local investment company Hemisferio for EUR 632 mln. Bancaja said it sold almost 5.27 million Metrovacesa's shares at EUR 120 each, meaning Metrovacesa's chairman Joaquin Rivero has lost an ally, Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias has reported.
According to sources close to Metrovacesa's chairman, it appears that, although it was not clear whether Hemisferio would support Rivero or his rival shareholder, the Sanahuja family, it was obvious that Rivero had lost support with the departure of Bancaja, the newspaper said.
According to a Cinco Dias' article, the purchase by Lara family, the largest shareholder in Hemisferio, will start a bidding war for control of Metrovacesa, with Joaquin Rivero with Bautista Soler on one side, and the Sanahuja family on the other side.
The transaction, together with the sale of other 814,298 Metrovacesa's shares last September, will add an estimated EUR 560 mln to Bancaja's end-of-year profit.
