Romania wants to sell minority package in Petrom next year after failed attempt

The Romanian state will try again to sell nearly half its share package in oil and gas company Petrom next year, after a failed attempt earlier this year. It will also sell the 15 percent in Transelectrica, electricity carrier, while listing 15 percent share packages in Transgaz and Romgaz respectively, according to the country's Economy Minister Ion Ariton.

“We simply refused to sell under a certain price. This can happen for any type of sale and it is a normal process. We will put the package up sale again next year,” said Ion Ariton in an interview for Austrian newspaper Wirtschaftsblatt. The public offer for a 9.84 percent (around half the state’s stake) in oil and gas company OMV Petrom was not carried through, after investors bid for less than 80 percent of the available shares, which was set as the threshold for a successful offer. The minister announced, in a statement sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange where OMV Petrom’s shares are traded, that they will monitor market evolution and decide on the best time to re-start the sale of a 9.84 percent share stake in the oil and gas company. The public offer began July 11 and ended July 22 this year. The public offer started with a maximum price of RON 0.46 per share, while mid-way through the process the Romanian Government established a minimum RON 0.37 price per share. This translated to a minimum price of EUR 438 million for half the government’s stake in OMV Petrom. A consortium led by investment bank Renaissance Capital started the public offer, which consisted of two tranches, 15 percent for retail buyers, and 85 percent for institutional buyers. The offer would have been successful if 80 percent of the shares had received bids at the price determined by prospectus. The Romanian state owns a 20.64 percent package in OMV Petrom. Austrian OMV is the majority shareholder in the company. Fondul Proprietatea owns a 20.11 percent stake, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, some 2.03 percent; while 6.21 percent is free floating on the BSE. The company posted a turnover of EUR 4.421 billion in 2010, while its pre-tax profit stood at EUR 709 million. editor@romania-insider.com