GAIL Bids for Petronet LNG stake – Report
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Wednesday, 05 October 2011 |
State-owned gas utility GAIL India is keen to acquire the Asian Development Bank’s 5.2% stake in Petronet LNG, according to domain b. The Asian Development Bank plans to sell its 39 million shares, says the site, citing “sources privy to the development”.
GAIL currently holds a 12.5% stake in the firm, as do Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum. Gaz de France holds a 10% stake – all five major shareholders have a right of refusal on the Asian Development Bank’s stake. GAIL has involved Petronet Chairman and Oil Secretary G C Chaturvedi that it plans to buy ADB’s entire stake or. If other shareholders are interested in acquiring it, the company proposed that the shares could be split equally.
ADP first proposed a sale of its holdings in 2008. At the time, CEO Prosad Dasgupta favoured recruiting an outside investor such as Lakshmi Mittal or Chevron. The bank originally planned to divest its shareholding within three years of Petronet going public in 2004 – however, it was persuaded at the time to continue its involvement with the company.
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