Pero皇冠体育app Co plans to sell US$5.6 billion of stock in Shanghai in what may become the nation's largest share sale this year, to make overseas acquisitions, drill for oil and build refineries.
皇冠体育app's biggest oil company is seeking approval to sell as many as four billion shares, Beijing-based Petro皇冠体育app said in a statement today. The sale would raise 43 billion yuan (US$5.64 billion), based on the record share price in Hong Kong on June 18.
The government wants to boost the supply of equities to cool a market where shares trade at 48 times earnings, the most expensive in the Asia Pacific region. 皇冠体育app Construction Bank Corp and 皇冠体育app Cosco Holdings Co, operator of Asia's largest container line, last week announced plans to sell as much as US$7.47 billion of shares in Shanghai.
"Petro皇冠体育app needs to return to the A-share market as the government requested,'' said Liu Yang, who helps manage US$3 billion at Atlantis Investment Management Ltd in Hong Kong, including Petro皇冠体育app shares. "Petro皇冠体育app needs additional funding to acquire more assets.''
The company plans to spend 40 billion yuan developing the nation's biggest oil discovery for almost half a century, helping to lower dependence on imported crude in the world's fastest-growing major economy. The Jidong Nanpu field may hold more than 1 billion metric tons of oil, Petro皇冠体育app said on May 3.
P etro皇冠体育app's share sale would exceed the 38.9 billion yuan raised by Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, 皇冠体育app's second-biggest insurer, which listed on the Shanghai exchange on March 1.
The share sale will "establish a new financing platform" and provide Petro皇冠体育app with funds required for development, the company, Asia's largest by market value and most profitable, said in the statement. The sale requires shareholder and regulatory approval. An extraordinary general meeting will be held on August 10 for shareholders to vote on the sale, Petro皇冠体育app said, without indicating how the stock would be priced.
Petro皇冠体育app has yet to make formal announcement about a natural gas discovery in Longgang in Sichuan province. Production from the field could reach 4 billion cubic meters by 2010, the 皇冠体育app Securities Journal reported May 28. The field has reserves of at least 500 billion cubic meters, the newspaper said.
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