HANOI: Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) will offer 103.5 million ordinary shares, or eight per cent of its stake, to the Japanese JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, officials said.
Hosting the shareholders’ meeting in Hà Nội last week, Petrolimex Chairman Bùi Ngọc Bảo revealed the plan to issue more shares to increase the group’s charter capital. The deal with JX was the first phase of this plan. The price will not be lower than VNĐ38,000 (US$1.7) per share. With this price, the company is expected to collect at least VNĐ3.9 trillion ($175 million), Bảo said.
After the purchase, JX will receive more than 155 million preferential shares, where the shareholders do not have voting rights. Bao said the deal with JX had been under negotiation for nearly two years. It had planned to sell 20 per cent of its stake to JX at first, but the figure was reduced to eight per cent due to existing difficulties in the market.
The capital earned after the sale will be partially used to restructure the finances of Petrolimex Singapore Pte Ltd in Singapore, which is reeling under losses of trillions of đồng. Chairman Bảo said they would send the restructuring plan of Petrolimex Singapore to relevant ministries and to the Prime Minister in order to create a plan that best serves the group and its sharesholders.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Văn Ninh had approved the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s plan to issue more shares and increase Petrolimex’s charter capital. The measure is considered part of the group’s restructuring process. The group’s current charter capital is VNĐ10.7 trillion. As of December 31, 2015, Petrolimex’s total assets reached VNĐ51 trillion. The company earned VNĐ146 trillion in revenue and VNĐ3.76 trillion in pre-tax profit.
