Vietnamese state oil company Petrolimex is looking to sell between 15-20 percent of its stake to Japan’s petrochemicals refining and marketing company JX Nippon Oil and Energy.

Petrolimex looks to sell large stake

Vietnam

HANOI, May 27, 2015 – Vietnamese state oil company Petrolimex is looking to sell between 15-20 percent of its stake to Japan’s petrochemicals refining and marketing company JX Nippon Oil and Energy.

Petrolimex is the largest importer and exporter of oil products in the country. The value of the sale is unknown. Petrolimex has stepped up talks with the Japanese company to be a strategic investor through a share issue. The Vietnamese government currently has a 95-stake in the company. With this agreement with its Japanese investor, Petrolimex would reduce its state ownership to less than 75 percent.

This accelerated talks fall in line with the government’s plan set forth in 2011 to raise the company’s charter capital from $493.1 million to $576 million. In December of last year, Petrolimex and JX Nippon entered into a memorandum in hopes of improving the company’s financial standing and corporate governance.