Portugal divests insurance group, raises 2.18 billion dollars

Lisbon, May 22 (IANS) Portugal raised about 2.18 billion dollars by selling 80 percent of Caixa Seguros, the country's largest insurance group, to China's Fosun International, Xinhua reported.

The deal was announced Wednesday.

Due to the company's growing value, the amount raised is higher than the 1.4 billion dollars the Portuguese government expected when it announced the sale in February.

Caixa Seguros, which is owned by state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), has a 26 percent share of the country's insurance market.

Portugal had to privatise several companies to meet the targets set in the 106 billion dollars bail out program it signed with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in May 2011.

The debt-ridden country ended its bail out program with a clean exit Saturday, after its economy showed early signs of recovery in the second half of 2013.