December 18 (SeeNews) - Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom, majority owned by Austria's OMV, plans to raise its capital by an estimated one billion euro ($1.4 billion), local Ziarul Financiar daily reported on Friday.
The Romanian government, which owns some 40% of OMV Petrom, will participate in the capital increase designed to support the group's investment plans next year, Ziarul Financiar quoted unnamed high-ranking officials from Romania’s Economy Ministry as saying.
OMV owns 51% of OMV Petrom. Romania's Economy Ministry and state-owned restitution fund Fondul Proprietatea own 20.64% and 20.11%, respectively. The remaining stake of 8.24% is traded on the Bucharest bourse.
Earlier this week OMV Petrom said it does not rule out seeking access to fresh equity in the future and/or other financing options in order to sustain its financial position and continue to fund future investment needs.
OMV Petrom’s stock was traded at 0.254 lei ($0.087/0.06 euro) by 1340 GMT on Friday, unchanged from Thursday’s close.
(1 euro = 4.2022 Romanian lei)