Brazil’s BNDES closes out its stake in mining giant Vale SA

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian development bank BNDES has closed out its stake in mining giant Vale SA, selling 188.5 million shares and raising around R$11 billion (US$2 billion), the bank confirmed in a statement on Tuesday, February 23rd.

The sale of the 3.6% stake in the miner, carried out by the bank’s equity arm BNDESPar, comes as BNDES seeks to exit its position in various companies as part of a broader government divestment plan. In November, a similar sale of Vale stock raised 2.54 billion reais.

“The bank took advantage of a favorable moment,” one source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier. A second source said the sales took place between November and last week.