Saudi Aramco buys US$1.2 billion stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank
- Deal amounts to a 17 per cent stake in the private South Korean company, a subsidiary of the publicly traded Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings
Saudi Aramco says it has reached an agreement to acquire a US$1.25 billion stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank that would provide Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company with a dedicated outlet for its crude to South Korea.
Aramco says the deal, announced on Monday, amounts to a 17 per cent stake in Hyundai Oilbank, a private oil refining company that is a subsidiary of the publicly traded Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings. The refinery complex in the western coastal city of Daesan, where Hyundai Oilbank’s major facilities are located, has a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Hyundai Oilbank says the Aramco purchase was made on valuation of the business at around US$8.8 billion in market capitalisation. It comes ahead of plans for an initial public offering by Hyundai Oilbank.