Gazprom Neft to Hike NIS Stake

摘要

Gazprom Neft said it plans to buy a 19.12% stake in Serbia's Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) from minority shareholders in a move that could boost its holding to a maximum of 70%. The offer is part of promises made when Gazprom Neft bought 51% of NIS in 2009, a company spokesman told International Oil Daily. Under the agreement, the company Russia's fifth-biggest oil producer was obliged by February 2011 to make a buyout offer to minority shareholders. The other 49% of NIS is held by the Serbian government, with 30%, with the rest owned by Serbian citizens and NIS employees. The latest offer has to win approval from the Serbian securities commission, which should take up to nine days. Assuming it gets the OK, the offer will be published in Serbian newspapers and become valid 45 days later.