Businessman Dinu Patriciu is planning to float Rompetrol Rafinare (Petromidia refinery), Rompetrol's most important company, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange early next year, sources close to the company say.
Rompetrol Rafinare (Petromidia) is now listed on RASDAQ, but has been suspended from trading for two weeks, due to share capital modifications.
Although the shares should resume trading today, this may not happen at all and instead the company may become available on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as of next January.
"A floatation of Petromidia on the Stock Exchange as of January 1 is being planned, but formalities may postpone it a bit," the quoted sources say.
Dinu Patriciu says the listing of Rompetrol Rafinare on the Stock Exchange is an option, yet no final decision has been made yet.
"For the time being, we have been authorised by shareholders to make two modifications to the capital stock: an over $50 million increase stipulated in the privatisation contract and splitting the par value of the shares to 1,000 ROL. We will think about floatation as soon as we are done with these changes, we have discussed it, but made no decision, yet," Dinu Patriciu told Ziarul Financiar.
Patriciu has been planning to float Rompetrol Rafinare on the Stock Exchange for quite a while, so that it would join another company of the group, Rompetrol Well Services.
Another company of the group listed on RASDAQ besides Petromidia is Rompetrol SA, the owner of the Vega Refinery until last year.
Capital market analysts expect to see Rompetrol Rafinare, Rompetrol SA and Rompetrol Well Services merge once listed on the Stock Exchange.
The purpose of the merger will be to create a representative company for the group, capable of raising cash from both the domestic and the international market.
Rompetrol Group is already past $1bn sales a year and wants to compete with Petrom, whose domestic operations exceed $2bn. The group is also planning to begin regional expansion.
To that end, Rompetrol needs financing for investments and working capital, and the company officials have announced a number of times they are considering to raise cash by issuing shares and bonds.
The merger process has been hindered thus far due to the uncertainty surrounding Petromidia's historical debts and the lien the Privatisation Authority (APAPS) has on its shares. The lien will be lifted by yearend, following the $50 million capital increase and the conversion of the $603 million overdue debts and matching penalties into bonds.
Rompetrol Rafinare has this way started to prepare for the merger and is to lower the par value of its shares to 1,000 ROL by splitting (as in the case of Rompetrol SA and Rompetrol Well Services) from the current 214,220 ROL. The splitting will become effective after the General Meeting of Petromidia Shareholders on December 5.
The latest Rompetrol Rafinare quotation on RASDAQ was 75,000 ROL (November 11, 2003 prior to the suspension).
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