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Mubadala offloads OMV stake to Adnoc: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) closed its acquisition of a 24.9% minority stake in Austria-based integrated oil and gas company OMV that was previously held by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Adnoc said in a statement yesterday. The statement did not disclose the financial value of the transaction.
Who will own what? Adnoc now holds 24.9% of OMV, while Austrian state-owned holding company Österreichische Beteiligungs AG retains a 31.5% stake. The remaining 56.4% shares will continue to be traded in freefloat on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
What’s next? Adnoc is set to nominate two representatives to hold seats on OMV’s supervisory board.
A double gain for Adnoc: The new acquisition will see Adnoc increase its stake in both Borealis and Borouge, “further bolstering its footprint in the chemicals sector, enabling synergies and unlocking significant growth opportunities across its broader chemicals portfolio, in particular at Borouge,” according to the statement.
What they said: “Building on our 25% shareholding in Borealis, this transaction marks the next transformative step as we accelerate our ambitious chemicals growth strategy, unlocking significant growth and value creation opportunities for Adnoc, OMV and their respective shareholders,” Adnoc’s Downstream Industry, Marketing and Trading executive director Khaled Salmeen said.
The move comes after months of on and off negotiations between the two companies on a merger of Borouge and Borealis, worth an estimated USD 30 bn. The latest round of negotiations was reportedly stalled to “navigate a series of disagreements,” ranging from the name of the potential merged entity to “the more serious.” The merger, which was first announced in July, was expected to give both companies an equal controlling stake.
The merger is still on the table: “Adnoc and OMV also continue to be engaged in open-ended negotiations about the potential creation of a new combined petrochemicals holding entity, through the proposed merger of their respective existing shareholdings in Borouge and Borealis,” Adnoc said.
