Banco Mare Nostrum’s Chairman Carlos Egea said that the company plans to sell its shares by next year. This was according to a Bloomberg report which added that the sale of the company’s shares would be a move to pay back the state bailout fund it received from a European funded aid.

BMN would sell its shares prior the deadline of the state bailout fund it received from the European Union. The company intends to file for a public offering before the 2017 deadline. This was according to a statement released by Egea in Madrid today.

The Spanish lender was provided a hefty EUR730 million rescue aid, said a report from Bloomberg. In return, BMN should sell off its assets in preparation for a share sale prior 2018. The rescue fund was extended by FROB. The company now holds 65 percent in the Madrid based lender.

According to Egea’s statement, “We will substitute the public capital of the FROB for private capital. We are going to return all the public aid.”