Caixabank is planning to reduce its 5% stake in Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME). The planned sale will make banks minority stakeholders in the Spanish exchange, according to The Financial Times.
Caixabank is the largest single BME shareholder. On Thursday, the Spanish bank announced that it planned to exit its remaining 4.19 million shares at €29.60 to €30.75 apiece. The bank appointed Citigroup as the coordinator of the transaction, the report detailed.
The planned sale comes just a couple of months after the Spanish central bank divested a similar sized BME stake for €122 million. Caixabank and the Bank of Spain both took advantage of the high BME share price, which has climbed 50% in the last half year to €30.75 per share, the report explained.
The BME covers the stock exchanges of Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Bilbao, including the main derivatives exchange of the Spain, the report added.
The central bank had been a BME shareholder for ten years. The bank sold down its stake to comply with the recommendations given in the International Monetary Fund's evaluation of Spain's financial system in May 2012, The Financial Times reported.
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