MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni is in talks with a potential buyer of a majority stake in its Versalis chemicals business part of the Italian oil company's plans to slim down and focus on oil and gas exploration, reported Reuters.
Two trade union leaders said on Thursday an Eni board meeting was expected to give the go ahead to exclusive talks with U.S. investment firm SK Capital.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting, said talks were under way with a bidder for Versalis but also said they could be extended to other possible buyers.
"We have in the past spoken to more than one party, at the moment we're speaking to one." The CEO said nothing had been decided yet.
The state-controlled energy group has pledged to sell EUR8 billion (USD8.7 bln) of assets over the next four years to help fund growth and support shareholder returns.
"We need to find funds to help develop the business," Descalzi said.
Eni said in October it was looking for a partner to help it run Versalis, which one Milan analyst said had an enterprise value of around EUR1.5 billion. Descalzi said a series of guarantees and pre-conditions put in place made a sale more difficult. These included keeping Versalis whole for five years, not cutting the workforce for three, and keeping the company in Italy. Eni has spent time and money turning around Versalis by refocusing the business on speciality and green products and promoting its international development.
As MRC wrote before, Eni will invest EUR125 million in its Versalis plant in Mantua to under the Group 2014-2017 four-year strategic plan.
Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of EUR68 billion (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
MRC