Brazil’s state-owned development bank BNDES raised 8.1 billion reais ($1.53 billion) by selling 135 million shares in miner Vale SA in an auction on Tuesday, the bank’s President Gustavo Montezano said.

The share sale reduced the BNDES stake in the world’s second-largest iron ore mining company to 3.7% from 6.3%.

“This morning we closed the largest block trade in the history of Latin America: 8.1 billion reais in Vale shares at 60.26 reais (the same price of the previous day’s closing and 4% below the all time high of the action),” he said on LinkedIn.

Montezano said the BNDES was turning its focus and resources energies towards Brazil’s social and environmental development.

The development bank has been divesting shares in companies as part of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s strategy to reduce government stakes in companies.

Last week, BNDES agreed to sell its stake in power company AES Tiete Energia SA to the firm’s controlling shareholder AES Corp.

Shares in Vale were up 0.2% in late afternoon trading at 60.35 reais.

Source: Reuters