Reuters first with Bankia head shrugging off impact of Atento IPO failure

Reuters was the first on June 13 with comments by former IMF head Rodrigo Rato shrugging off the significance of the failure of Telefonica’s Atento IPO for the planned listing of Bankia, Spain´s largest savings bank. Rato, Bankia chairman, said call centre Atento should not be taken as a reference for appetite to invest in the Spanish market, but admitted Bankia’s own listing was dependent on the fragile European context in which policymakers were still negotiating terms for a second Greek bailout. Rato said management was still maintaining its goal to list Bankia as soon as possible, an operation seen as a litmus test for whether the opaque cajas can attract private capital, a key concern for international investors. Risk spreads for Spain narrowed after the publication of Rato’s comments to Reuters as investors took some reassurance from his confidence that Spain was not being shunned by international capital markets.