The Romanian Ministry of Economy has started the procedures to select the intermediary for the secondary public offer to sell 9.84 percent in oil and gas company OMV Petrom, the ministry has announced. The winner of this bid will be announced in March. The sale will happen on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

The Romanian state intends to sell half of its 20.6 percent participation in Petrom. The value of the package on sale is of EUR 480 million, based on the latest price on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (RON 0.367/share), where Petrom is already listed. This would the be the biggest public offer on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, after the EUR 63 million offer for 10 percent of Transgaz, in 2007.

Petrom, with a market capitalization of EUR 4.87 billion, is 51 percent owned by Austrian OMV. Apart from the Romanian state, Fondul Proprietatea also owns 20.1 percent in the oil and gas company. OMV Petrom is the biggest company in Romania, turnover wise.

editor@romania-insider.com