Serbia will relaunch an international tender for the sale of a stake in NIS oil monopoly by the end of January, Greek local press reports on Tuesday, citing sources.
Belgrade had deferred all major privatizations after the country’s early general elections in December. The country called the tender for the first time last November.
Under the old terms of the tender, the government expects to get at least $300 million for the 25% stake, based on NIS’ $1.2 billion nominal value. The buyer would get another 12.5% stake through a $250 million capital increase and would have to reinvest a further $250 million from NIS profits. Once the first stage of privatization is over, the state and the buyer would each hold a 37.5% stake. The buyer would get management control and Serbia would keep a right to veto decisions such as the sale of NIS to third parties.
Three years later NIS would launch an initial public offering, putting on sale 15% of its total capital.
Following the IPO, the initial buyer would have the chance to boost its holding to 49%, depending on the company’s third-year performance.
By the end of July, privatization advisers Merrill Lynch and Raiffeisen Investment had held meetings with companies including Hellenic Petroleum, OMV, MOL, PKN Orlen and Lukoil.