(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s bank resolution authority hired Bank of America Corp. to help sell some of its shares in CaixaBank SA and neutralize the impact of buybacks that would otherwise increase its stake.
The US firm is managing a so-called dribble-out trading program, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the details are private. Economy minister Carlos Cuerpo has said he wants to keep the government’s stake in CaixaBank at around 18%.
Spokespeople for BofA, CaixaBank and FROB, the Spanish bank resolution authority, declined to comment.
Spain has trailed other European countries over the past two years in selling down stakes in the banking sector held since the financial crisis. Greece effectively privatized the entire industry when it exited three of the country’s biggest lenders and largely divested its holding in a fourth.
Germany trimmed its stake in Commerzbank AG, while the Netherlands is selling down its investment in ABN Amro Bank NV and Italy recently divested a piece of its holding in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA.
Spain’s has owned the stake in CaixaBank since the lender merged with state-backed Bankia in 2021. The government has given itself until the end of 2025 to exit the investment, a deadline it previously extended.
The state doesn’t plan to exit the holding for now to maximize returns, but doesn’t want to increase its ownership further, economy minister Carlos Cuerpo said last month. FROB’s remaining stake in CaixaBank is currently worth around €6.6 billion ($6.9 billion).
Spain’s stake in CaixaBank has grown from around 16% to just over 18% because it didn’t take part in the lender’s share buybacks. Bank of America’s appointment comes just weeks after CaixaBank launched a new €500 million repurchase program.
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