VIENNA: Austria’s oil and gas group OMV said on Thursday it plans to sell assets worth $2.3 billion until the end of next year to fund its $4.7 billion acquisition of an additional stake in plastics maker Borealis.
OMV on Thursday signed the previously announced deal with Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala that saw it increase its stake in Borealis to 75 per cent.
“This transaction is not just another milestone in the implementation of our strategy, but the biggest transformation in OMV’s history,” said OMV Chief Executive Rainer Seele.
“This turns OMV into a global oil, gas and chemicals group, whose integrated business model extends from the wellhead to high-quality plastic and repositions the group for a low carbon future.”
The 59-year-old German has shifted OMV’s focus for growth from low-cost oil and gas in Russia towards the Middle East, where he wants to become a major supplier of plastics.
The acquisition gives OMV more say in a key project on the Abu Dhabi coast, where Borealis is the part-operator, via its Borouge joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, of the Ruwais refinery. ADNOC plans to develop it into the world’s largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant.
A first divestment could be the sale of OMV’s 51 per cent stake in gas pipeline operator Gas Connect Austria to hydropower specialist Verbund. Austria’s largest utility said on Thursday it was in exclusive negotiations with OMV regarding the potential acquisition.
OMV also plans to sell its German network of petrol stations, a company spokesman said without providing any more detail. — Reuters
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