Angolan state oil company Sonangol will keep its stakes in Portugal's Galp Energia and Millennium bcp lender as it considers them strategic assets, Sonangol CEO Sebastiao Gaspar Martins told Reuters on Wednesday.
With a 19.49% stake, Sonangol is Millennium bcp's second-largest shareholder after China's Fosun, which controls 29.95% of the capital in Portugal's largest listed bank.
The Angolan company indirectly owns a 45% stake in the holding company Amorim Energia, which is the largest shareholder in oil company Galp with a stake of around 33%. "Sonangol has, in its investments in Galp and Millennium bcp, strategic and financial interests, and for this reason it maintains its stake in both companies," Gaspar Martins said, adding that Sonangol would seek to ensure their value increases over time and it gets paid dividends.
Asked about potential mergers in the Portuguese banking sector, he said "our decisions will be based on assessments to be made before any move" to ensure any merger involving Millennium bcp promotes an increase in the bank's total value and share price.
(Reuters - Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip)