By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON (Reuters) - China's Fosun will keep supporting the development of Portugal's Millennium bcp bank as it remains optimistic about the Portuguese market, despite having reduced its stake in the lender, a Fosun spokesman said on Tuesday.
BCP shares slid more than 7% in early trading after Fosun sold 5.6% of Portugal's largest listed bank for 235.2 million euros($255.80 million) in a private offering for institutional investors, reducing its stake to just over 20%.
A Millennium bcp spokesperson said Fosun had informed the bank that it "intends to maintain a stake above 20% while remaining a reference shareholder of the bank".
Fosun, which aims to boost its working capital amid what analysts see as debt pressure, said its holding in BCP had been cut from 29.95% to 25.63% via share sales between Nov. 13 and Jan. 9.
Fosun remains the largest single shareholder in BCP, closely followed by Angolan state oil company Sonangol with 19.49%.
The Fosun spokesman said the sale was "normal investment behaviour... and should not be interpreted as a sign that Fosun is no longer optimistic about the Portuguese market under any circumstances".
"The Fosun Group will continue to support the development of Millennium bcp," he added, explaining that the sale took into account "the strong rise in the share price of Portuguese banks and Millennium bcp in recent period".
BCP shares soared 87% last year, gaining another 4% since the start of the year through Monday to 0.2875 euros. The private offering was made at 0.2780 euros a share.
Fosun also owns 85% of Portugal's largest insurance firm Fidelidade, which in turn owns the country's leading private healthcare group Luz Saude.
"Fosun's investments in Portugal, like Fidelidade, will continue to be very important components for the group," its spokesman said, adding that the sale was unrelated to any debt or cash flow pressure after improvements recorded on both fronts in recent years.
($1 = 0.9195 euros)