Spain flirts with foreign investors in rescued bank sell-down

Spain is opening the door to foreign investment funds interested in buying into its rescued banks, though outside investors will likely struggle to gain control of big lenders which may yet need extra government help to smooth a sale.
Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said yesterday that international investors were among those circling NCG Banco, a state-rescued bank from the northern region of Galicia that is coming up for auction at the end of September.
“There’s interest, not only from domestic banks but also from some foreign funds,” De Guindos said.
The bank is one of several to have been nationalised after a five-year-long property crash. Along with Barcelona-based Catalunya Banc, it took some of the biggest chunks of a 41-billion-euro European rescue last year.