Efacec privatisation steams ahead

Current privatisation proposals for state-owned electrical and transportations systems company Efacec could refund some of the public monies injected into the company since it was renationalised.

The reprivatisation of the company is still underway, with the government studying several offers from private companies with the shortlist of those interested being finalised by the end of March.
At a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, the Minister of the Economy, António Costa Silva said that there are “consortiums and international companies who have a mind to not only invest in Efacec, but make offers that could leave room for the State to claw back some of the investment it has made in the Oeiras-based engineering company.
When asked if the amount of public money injected into the company would be directly reflected in the sale price, the minister replied: “It will be very difficult for the total amount (of tax payer’s money) to be reflected in the sale price”.
“The State could access recovery funds after the company has been salvaged”, this could translate into “a percentage of the free cash flow being shared with the state,” he added.
As to the proposals on the table, Costa Silva said that the plan was for a total selloff of Efacec, and that most of the offers from interested parties were along those lines.
“Some of the potential buyers, even the international ones, want to safeguard the Efacec brand”, he added.
Efacec is a Portuguese company with a strong exporter profile and International presence in over 65 countries. The company was founded in 1905. It currently has a clutch of contracts around the world focused on developing products and systems with added value, working on infrastructure development for important sectors of economic activity.