3rd UPDATE: Repsol Says It Received Proposals For YPF Stake
03 7월 2009 - 2:28AM
Dow Jones News
Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA (REP) has received proposals
for a stake in its Argentine unit YPF, but no firm offers, the
Spanish oil firm said Thursday.
People familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires
Thursday that Chinese, Russian and Indian companies are interested
in buying a stake in YPF. Repsol in a regulatory filing Thursday
said it would still like to either carry out an initial public
offering or find new partners in YPF.
Repsol canceled plans last year to float 20% of YPF on
Argentina's stock exchange due to adverse market conditions. The
company has for some time said it wants to reduce its YPF stake and
concentrate on regions with a higher expansion potential, such as
recently discovered fields in Brazil or the Gulf of Mexico. YPF's
market capitalization is currently around $12 billion.
"Repsol ... has received proposals of a different nature and
from different companies," Repsol said in a regulatory filing,
reacting to several news reports that China National Petroleum
Corp., or CNPC, is weighing up a bid for part of YPF.
CNPC, China's biggest oil company by capacity, may bid for some
of Repsol's Argentine assets, a person familiar with the matter
told Dow Jones Newswires. CNPC is the parent of Hong Kong- and
Shanghai-listed PetroChina Co. (PTR).
Separately, a report in the South China Morning Post Thursday,
quoting unnamed sources, said CNPC may offer to buy up to
three-quarters of YPF. It also said that Cnooc Ltd. (CEO), China's
third-largest oil producer by capacity, is eyeing a 25% stake in
YPF.
A Cnooc spokesman declined to comment, while a CNPC spokesman
said he had no information on the issue.
At 1151 GMT, Repsol's shares were trading up 3%, or EUR0.48, at
EUR16.68, while the Spanish market was down 0.3%.
China's oil majors recently have snapped up a series of assets
to satisfy the Asian country's growing thirst for crude.
These include the $7.2 billion purchase on June 24 by China
Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec, of oil explorer Addax Petroleum
Corp. (AXC.T), CNPC's $3.3 billion purchase of Kazakh oil producer
MangistauMunaiGas jointly with Kazakhstan's state-owned
KazMunaiGas, and oil-for-loans agreements in Russia and Brazil.
But analysts say the window of opportunity for overseas deals -
created by a combination of tight credit supply and the decline in
oil prices from a peak above $147 a barrel last July - is closing.
Crude oil started 2009 around $44/bbl and has since risen to around
$68/bbl, making many companies less willing to sell.
A bid for part of YPF could meanwhile run into political
trouble. The Argentine government wants to water down the existing
Repsol stake to secure at least 51% control for domestic investors,
Argentina's El Cronista newspaper said last month, quoting a
government source.
But Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau last week denied Argentina's
government is pressuring Repsol to sell part of its YPF stake. June
23, Brufau also said Repsol wasn't at that time in any concrete
negotiations to sell a stake in YPF.
Meanwhile, Grupo Petersen has the right to reject any offers to
buy the company, local YPF officials say. Even though the group
holds only a minority stake, it has operating control over the
company.
Argentina's Grupo Petersen bought a 14.9% stake in YPF from
Repsol in February 2008 for $2.24 billion. The deal included a buy
option for an additional 10% stake in YPF.
Repsol is being advised on YPF by U.S. investment bank Goldman
Sachs Group (GS).
Company Web site: www.repsol.com
-By Bernd Radowitz, Christopher Bjork and David Winning, Dow
Jones Newswires, +34-91-395-8120, djmadrid@dowjones.com
(Wan Xu in Beijing and Taos Turner in Buenos Aires contributed
to this report.)