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The government will decide by the second half of the year if it
will dispose of its 40 percent stake in Petron Corp. after waiving its
right of first refusal on the sale of the 40 percent shares of Saudi
Arabia Oil Co. to London-listed Ashmore Group.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves told reporters that the government
would consider its cash position before deciding on the sale of its stake
in Petron through a public bidding.
“There is no definite date yet. Should we decide to dispose of it, if
at all, it would probably in the second semester,” said Teves.
The finance chief said the government would weigh several factors like
the treasury’s cash position and conditions in the stock market.
“We have to consider all of these elements,” he said.
Teves said taipan John Gokongwei, through his JG Summit Holdings, had
formally informed the government of its interest in acquiring the 40
percent stake held by state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. in Petron
for P24.56 billion.
He added that PTT of Thailand had also expressed interest in PNOC’s holdings.
“We are still keeping our options open. Eventually, we will know when
we will bid this formally, [and] other interest parties will come out,”
he said.
The government, through PNOC, owns 3.75 billion shares in Petron.
Energy Secretary and PNOC ex-officio chairman Angelo Reyes earlier said
that JG Summit and Morgan Stanley had expressed interest in acquiring
the government’s shareholdings in Petron.
PNOC and Saudi Aramco own 40 percent apiece in Petron, with the 20
percent held by the public. The shares of Petron are traded at the
Philippine Stock Exchange.
Ashmore, through SEA Refinery Holdings, has offered to buy Saudi Aramco’s 40 percent stake in Petron for $550 million.
The government hopes to raise at least P30 billion from the sale of
government assets this year. Assets lined up for privatization include
utility giant Manila Electric Co., the sprawling 100-hectare property
of Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City and the Fujimi property in Japan.
The government hopes to achieve a balanced budget this year after
trimming the deficit to P12.4 billion, or 0.2 percent of gross domestic
product last year.
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