Mutares seeks Efacec compensation from Portuguese state
Mutares has asked Portugal’s state holding Parpública to cover Efacec liabilities under the sale contract, but part of the claimed amounts remains disputed.
German asset manager Mutares has asked Parpública, the Portuguese state holding company, to cover financial liabilities at Efacec under the terms of the company’s sale, in a dispute that could raise the public cost of the deal. According to Parpública’s annual report, part of the amounts claimed by Mutares has not been accepted and remains under discussion.
The sale contract for the state’s stake in Efacec provides that Parpública will assume liabilities linked to commitments made before June 2023, when the agreement was signed. These include financial overruns in projects that were still unfinished when the transaction closed, as well as potential costs from court cases that began before October 31, 2023 and end unfavourably for Efacec. Mutares, which bought 71.73% of Efacec from the state in October 2023, began filing claims last year.
Parpública said it had recognised only the overruns for which it considered the contractual conditions had been met, with the remaining claims still “under analysis and discussion with Mutares”. The contract caps these claims at €80 million. ECO asked both Parpública and Mutares about the amounts involved and the status of the process, but received no reply.
Parpública’s report also refers to a separate alleged liability linked to a 2015 transition agreement signed when Isabel dos Santos entered Efacec’s shareholder structure through Winterfell 2. According to a Portuguese audit court report, Parpública also committed in the Efacec sale contract to fully indemnify the company in certain cases related to that agreement, and that obligation is not covered by the general €80 million cap.
As of December 31, 2025, Parpública said no additional indemnifiable amount due to Mutares had been definitively established. The audit court had previously said the reprivatisation of Efacec had resulted in €484 million of public funding up to May 17, 2024, with a risk of rising to €564 million because of contingent liabilities assumed in the sale.
Originally published at Eco.pt
