(Ecofin Agency) - Portuguese bank BPI announced in a statement that its shareholders (83.2%of votes) have approved on December 13, 2016, the takeover by mobile operator Unitel of its Angolan subsidiary, Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA). The move will see BPI sell 2% of its 50.1% stake in BFA, to Unitel which used to hold 49.9%. The mobile operator will thus be holding 51.9% of the firm’s capital while the Portuguese lender would have the remaining stake (48.1%).

By proceeding to the sale which was valued at €28 million, BPI complies with the recommendations from the Central Bank of Europe (CBE) to reduce its exposure to the Angolan debt, which it deemed too risky, or face sanctions. After the coming into force in 2015 of new European regulations for banking supervision, BPI, via BFA, had its own funds ratio affected by its exposure to the Angolan debt.

It should be recalled that the ECB initially gave BPI until April 10, 2016, to reduce its exposure to the debt of the Angolan state. However, it extended this deadline to give time to BPI’s main shareholders, the Spanish bank CaixaBank and business mogul Isabel dos Santos, to reach an agreement.

During the vote to approve the sale, Tiago Violas Ferreira, representative of Violas which holds a 2.63% interest in BPI, disapproved the operation, saying the €28 million which BPI fixed did not correspond to the institution’s value. He added that the group was considering if it should bring the case to court or not.