Swedish-Swiss engineering group Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has sold 457.3 million China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) shares at a loss.
An ABB spokesman said last night it had completed the sale of its entire holding in Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner and China's second-largest oil producer. 'We confirm that we are selling all of our Sinopec shares to focus on our core business and will use the proceeds to pay down our debt,' he said.
ABB appointed Merrill Lynch to sell the H shares at between HK$1.43 and HK$1.46 apiece, 2 to 4 per cent lower than yesterday's market close of HK$1.49.
The ABB spokesman refused to reveal the final sale price but said said it was at the lower end of the discount to the closing price. ABB bought the 400 million Sinopec shares - a 0.46 per cent stake - for US$100 million as a corporate subscriber to the mainland company's global share offering in 2000.
The purchase price of HK$1.70 a share was 6.92 per cent higher than the public offer price of HK$1.59.
Other strategic investors included oil giants BP, Royal Dutch/Shell and ExxonMobil, which held stakes of 2.11 per cent, 2.27 per cent and 3.65 per cent in Sinopec at the end of last year.