Cairn India to sell 5.37% stake for Rs 2,534cr

Cairn India, the Indian arm of British oil and gas company Cairn Energy, has decided to sell 5.37 per cent stake to Malaysian state oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, and Singapore-based Orient Global Tamarind Fund for Rs 2,534 crore ($625 million) to fund expansion plans.

The company will sell a total 113 million shares – 63.3 million shares to Petronas and 49.7 million shares to Tamarind, New Zealand billionaire Richard Chandler’s investment group – at Rs 224.30 each.The share sale price is 1.8 per cent lower than Cairn India’s closing price on March 14 and a 40 per cent premium to its listing price of Rs 160.

Following the share sale, Petronas’ stake in Cairn India will rise to 12.7 per cent, while Orient Global Tamarind will own 2.6 per cent. Cairn India’s holding will be reduced to 64 per cent.The share sale proposal was approved by Cairn India’s board of directors today and will be taken up for shareholders’ approval on April 16.The shares will be locked-in for one year from the date of allotment.

Read more in
The Business Standard article.

Petrobras, Petroplus in race for Cairn

Interest from Malaysia’s Petronas in Cairn India and Swiss Petroplus in Cairn India’s parent, Cairn Energy, saw the shares of both the companies gaining on the bourses.

Petronas, which already owns 10 per cent of Cairn India through a pre-IPO placement, was now looking to buy out Cairn Energy’s 69 per cent stake in Cairn India, sources said. The takeover talks pushed Cairn’s share price on the BSE to Rs 144.30 on Friday, up 2.3 per cent on Thursday’s close of Rs 139.85.

This was 4.85 per cent higher than the Wednesday’s close of Rs 134.05. At the current price of Rs 144.30 a share, Cairn Energy’s 69 per cent stake would be worth around Rs 17,700 crore.

Finacial Times report that Swiss refiner Petroplus is planning a bid for Cairn Energy, sent the Cairn Energy stock higher by 3.5 per cent to £17.93 a share on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.

Following the news, Citigroup changed its status on both Cairn Energy and Cairn India to “buy”. The research group revised the price target for the Cairn stock from Rs 145 to Rs 185.