US investment bank Merrill Lynch is interested in helping with the provision of funds for employees to buy shares in companies such as Petrom and Electrica, according to the Economy and Trade Minister, Codrut Seres.
He added that Merrill Lynch was also interested in becoming involved with the energy exchange in Bucharest, as well as raising the necessary capital to complete Reactor 3 of the Cernavoda nuclear plant, estimated at around 700 million euros. Merrill Lynch has also submitted a letter expressing its interest in becoming the state advisor in the privatisation of Romgaz Medias.
Merrill Lynch officials had not commented before this story went to press.
For Petrom, Merrill Lynch would be competing with the three leading investment banks still in the running for a 235.2 million euro loan: Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and UBS. For a while Credit Suisse enjoyed exclusive rights to talks with Petrom''s Employee Association, which is headed by Liviu Luca. However, those rights recently expired, sources say. An extension of the deadline was now being requested, they added.
Petrom''s employees can buy up to 8% of the company''s shares at 5 eurocents a piece, which is the same price as that paid by OMV. The 8% stake is now worth more than 640 million euros on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, nearly three times more than what Petrom employees will have to pay to buy them.
The quoted sources say that once the Employee Association gets its stake, it could use part of it to repay the loan to the lender bank, as Petrom''s shares are in high demand from investment banks.
Following the government''s rejection of a draft normative act that would have seen Liviu Luca negotiate the acquisition of the shares on behalf of the employees, Seres says that the shares will be available for purchase either independently or through the Association.
Current laws say that employees may negotiate the purchase of Petrom shares, without specifying whether it should be done through the Employee Association, as in the cases of Electrica, Distrigaz Nord and Distrigaz Sud.
The US investment bank was very active on the market of funding in Romania between 1995 and the end of 1999, after which time its operations on the market were sharply reduced.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
