Maravi

Puma opts to maintain 75% shares in BP

Puma opts to maintain 75% shares in BP
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thu 23 June 2011, 09:10 CAT

PUMA is not interested in buying the listed stake of BP Zambia Plc after opting to maintain 75 per cent ownership of the country’s biggest oil marketing company.

Its sponsoring brokers, Stockbrokers Zambia Limited, said Puma Energy wanted Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to waiver the listing rule that demand that a company taking over a listed company extends, mandatorily, the offer to minority shareholders who did not participate in the transaction for the majority unlisted shares.

A waiver of the mandatory offer would mean that the shareholding of Puma Energy would remain fixed at 75 per cent and the balance of 25 per cent would be the public spread or free float held by minority shareholders.

“Around the BP mandatory offer, the current position is that the application for a waiver is under review with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pending conclusion of various completion formalities on the transaction,” said Jimmy Mwambazi, a key analyst at Stockbrokers Zambia Limited.

He said Puma Energy and BP Africa have not concluded the determination of the final price.

“This process is still on-going,” said Mwambazi.

Last year, BP has agreed to sell its fuels marketing businesses in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia to Puma Energy.

BP also announced that it has agreed to sell its 50 per cent interest in each of BP Malawi and BP Tanzania to Puma Energy, subject to the pre-emption rights of its co-shareholders.

The decision to divest these businesses, which was first announced by BP in March 2010, followed a strategic review of BP’s southern African refining and marketing businesses. The sales do not include BP's refining and marketing businesses in Mozambique or South Africa.

Labels: BP, OIL

posted by MrK @ 6:10 PM