Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Bharat Oman To File For IPO Soon: Sources

MUMBAI: Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd, an equal joint venture between state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp and Oman Oil Co, will soon file for an initial public offer to raise up to Rs 25 billion ($635 million), three banking sources involved in the deal said.

The company plans to sell about 48 per cent through the public offer and a pre-IPO placement, the sources said on Tuesday.

"We hope to file the draft prospectus by the end of this week or early next week," one said. SBI Capital Markets, Citibank and ICICI Securities are among the arrangers of the issue, sources said.

Bharat Petroleum declined comment on the deal. Bharat Oman Refineries is building a 120,000 barrels per day (BPD) refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh at a cost of about Rs 104 billion and has tied up a debt portion of about Rs 64 billion.

Last week Bharat Petroleum said its board had approved a proposal to subscribe to Bharat Oman's IPO, with an overall stake to be limited to 48 percent. The company said its investment in Bharat Oman would not exceed Rs 19.96 billion.

The sources said after the IPO Oman Oil's holding in the company would come down to less than 10 per cent. BPCL runs a 240,000 bpd refinery in Mumbai, India's financial hub, and another 150,000 bpd refinery in Kochi, Kerala.

Its subsidiary Numaligarh Refinery Ltd runs a 60,000 bpd refinery in north-east India.

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