Caixa Geral de Depósitos finally has rid itself of one of the most catastrophic investments in the bank’s history with the sale of Artlant for an undisclosed sum.
The giant plant in Sines has been sold to the Thai company, Indorama Ventures, thus enabling the bank to draw a line under this shameful episode that has cost Portugal's taxpayers around half a billion euros.
"Indorama Ventures, a global chemical producer, will acquire Artlant's assets, including all equipment, surface rights and contracts of employment," read a statement from the Bangkok-based group, which also bought the assets of the industrial site’s energy supplier, Artelia Ambiente.
The bank has not revealed the prices paid by the Thais to acquire these assets, but the leaked figure is €28 million, marking a catastrophic loss.
As part of Caixa Geral’s special revitalisation process (PER) applied for in 2014, the bank was owed €520 million by Ardlant, making the company the bank’s largest creditor accounting for 75% of the total money owed.
Caixa Geral took possession of Ardlant’s assets and wrote off the loan, with the president of the bank revealing in July this year that the exposure to Artlant was, quite magically, "zero."
"Caixa welcomes the announcement of the acquisition of the assets of Artlant, a significant chemical company in the Sines area, by a world leader in the petrochemical industry," read today’s note.
"Caixa has never ceased to support the continuation of this factory over the last few years, as well as maintaining more than a hundred direct jobs," chirped the bank, now headed by Paulo Macedo.
In an increasingly desperate attempt to put a positive spin on this bloodbath, the Caixa note continued, “the sale of the complex is important for the country, because of the exporting nature of the company, with the capacity to export up to 700,000 tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA - used in packaging and the textile industry), with an impact on the growth of the Gross Domestic Product."
The construction of the Ardlant plant began in 2008, but soon was followed by problems, both with delays in construction, and the collapse of La Seda de Barcelona in June 2013.
The Spanish company had been Ardlant’s biggest customer. Caixa Geral, then led by Carlos Santos Ferreira, had lent money to La Seda whose insolvency crippled Ardlant and cost the State a further €33 million in direct investment which had been authorised under the then-Prime Minister, José Sócrates.
Caixa Geral was obliged to recapitalise in 2012 in the amount of €750 million and again in 2016 with about € 5 billion - all paid for by taxpayers.
A committee of inquiry into Caixa Geral's operations reported in July this year that the refusal by Caixa Geral's directors to hand over potentially crucial customer information, a stance backed up by the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Portugal and the Securities Market Commission, had denied the public the opportunity to know what had been going on, and why.
