Saturday, December 20, 2008 Government sells share in Petron
THE government has finally sold its 40 percent stake in Petron Corporation to SEA Refinery Corp. at P25.7 billion.
State-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) signed Friday the share purchase agreement which officially sells the National Government's remaining 40 percent stake or 3.75 billion shares in Petron.
The PNOC sold its stake in Petron at P6.85 per share or with 34 percent premium over Petron's closing price of P5.10 per share.
The selling price is also higher by five percent than SEA Refinery's acquisition price of P6.531 per share for Saudi Aramco's 40 percent stake in Petron last May.
Based on the agreement, the government is expecting the payment of the P25.7 billion to happen this year. The PNOC-SEA Refinery shareholder’s agreement stated that the buyer has 60 days payment period.
“The full privatization of Petron is seen as a testament to continued investor confidence in the country despite the worsening global financial crisis,” PNOC said in a statement.
In July, SEA Refinery Holdings BV, a company owned by the Ashmore Group, completed the acquisition of Aramco’s 40 percent stake in Petron for US$550 million. The company also bought an additional 10.57 percent of Petron shares following a mandatory tender offer.
The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) was tapped by PNOC to serve as its financial advisor for the Petron shares.
Present during the signing are PNOC president and CEO Antonio Cailao, Craig Webster for SEA Refinery, and DBP president and CEO Reynaldo David.
Last May, the Ashmore group bought the 40 percent stake of Saudi Aramco in Petron for US$550 million and tendered for the remaining 60 percent of about US$827.23 million.
Petron has 9.375 billion outstanding shares and a market capitalization of P55.3 billion.
In 1994, the Philippine government sold its 40 percent share in Aramco for $535 million and it was agreed that PNOC would be given the right to match or assign an eligible party should the Saudi-based oil company decide to sell its shares.
Saudi Aramco announced last April that it entered into an agreement with the Ashmore Group through its subsidiary, Sea Refinery Holdings, for the sale of its 40 percent stake in Petron.
Petron president and CEO Eric Recto earlier said that the company is projected to incur about P2 billion losses by end of this year as a result of the oil price volatility. (MSN/Sunnex)
