3-5 years turnaround for Efacec

The Portuguese government has admitted that it will probably take three to five years for the German vulture fund Mutares to restructure the electrical and transport systems company Efacec and turn its fortunes around.

The secretary of State for the Economy, Pedro Cilínio said: “I believe the recovery plan will take three to five years” when asked about the time it would take to turn the company around in a joint interview with Antena 1 and Jornal de Negócios which was broadcast on the programme ‘Conversa Capital’.
According to the junior minister, if the fund “sells off Efacec before this timeframe, it will be because the recovery plan had gone better than expected”.
As to the amount the German fund has paid for the company and the amount that will be invested, the secretary of State for the Economy did not divulge it, saying the figures would be released at the right time since “aspects of the contract were still being finalised.”
When asked about criticisms from the opposition PSD party which has accused the Government of being opaque over the reprivatisation of Efacec, Pedro Cilínio said that the minister of the Economy, António Costa Silva “is dealing with the process and will certainly release the necessary information when the time is right”.
In statements made to the news agency Lusa, the PSD MP Paulo Rios de Oliveira said that statements from the minister so far had left “questions, concerns and confusion”.
“First they didn’t announce the sale, but announced the project to sell the company. How much are they (Mutuares) going to pay? We have no idea. What is the project? We don’t know. What is the creative model that will enable the State to claw back the investment it has put in? We also don’t know.”
On April 11 the umbrella company that holds State-owned companies received improved offers from four candidates for the purchase of 71.73% of Efacec. The offers were from Mutares, Oaktree, Oxy Capital and Agrupamento Visabeira-Sodecia.