(Updates with banks’ confirmation)
MADRID, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Spain’s bank bailout fund plans to offload about 7 percent of Bankia for some 840 million euros ($991 million) in a rapid sale, the investment banks involved said on Monday.
Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said last month that the government, which owns 66 percent of Bankia, was planning to sell stakes “as soon as possible” given the bank’s strong recovery since its 2012 bailout.
UBS, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley said in Spanish stock market regulatory filing that the sale to institutional investors would last less than a day and the price achieved will be announced on Tuesday.
Bankia and smaller lender BMN were given a 24 billion euro bailout in 2012 after losses on property loans at the height of Spain’s financial crisis.
Seeking to boost its earnings, Bankia agreed in June to acquire BMN to create Spain’s fourth-biggest bank.
Bankia shares have risen 7.4 percent this year, against a 8.9 percent rise in Europe’s STOXX banking index. ($1 = 0.8477 euros) (Reporting by Carlos Ruano and Andres Gonzalez; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Susan Fenton and Alexander Smith)
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