Petron Corp. shares representing 10 percent of the oil company valued at P6.49bn  were transacted  on Monday at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The transaction was “most probably" undertaken between UK-based Ashmore Group, and San Miguel Corp., which has recently undertaken bold moves to diversify into new businesses including energy and telecommunications. An unnamed source at Petron confirmed this to PetrolWorld by phone.

A source familiar with the matter said only Ashmore had the capacity to dispose of such volume of shares. San Miguel has earlier confirmed that it was in talks to buy into Petron, the Philippines' largest oil refiner.  "It could be Ashmore, since they are the only only one with enough shares to sell," said Chelsea Dipasupil, RCBC Securities research head.  Parties were expected to come out soon to disclose who the buyer of Petron shares was.

Ashmore currently holds 50.57 percent of Petron after its acquisition of the stake of Saudi Aramco and the succeeding tender offer in the market. Last week, Ashmore signed an agreement with the government for the Philippine National Oil Co.'s (PNOC) 40-percent stake in the oil refinery. Ashmore is paying P25.7 billion for the Petron stake of the government, or at P6.85 per share. The Saudi Aramco stake was bought at P6.531 per share.

Ramon Ang, San Miguel president, said that they had signed an agreement with Ashmore to buy 50.1 percent stake in Petron. Last year San Miguel has announced that it will be allocating about $750 million, equivalent to a 10th of its total assets, in new businesses such as power generation and transmission, mining and infrastructure.

PetrolWorld 221208

 PW Archives (12 new stories in 2008) - Recent related news includes: 

9th Dec 2008 - Philippines: Petron Corp Agrees 40% Stake Sales With Ashmore 

8th October 2008 - San Miguel Corp To Initiate Talks For Stake in Petron