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Mozambique: Public Offer of Shares in Hydrocarbon Company
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Maputo
The Mozambican government on Tuesday announced the sale of 10 per cent of the shares in the publicly-owned Mozambican Hydrocarbon Company (CMH) - but only Mozambican individuals or companies may purchase the shares.
CMH was set up in October 2006, as the vehicle for Mozambican participation in the exploitation and processing of natural gas at Temane, in the southern province of Inhambane. CMH is thus the Mozambican partner of the South African petro-chemical giant SASOL, which has the rights to the Inhambane gas fields. A condition of the deal with SASOL was always that Mozambicans would have the right to participation of up to 25 per cent.
The CMH shareholding structure is that 80 per cent is owned by the public National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH), and the remaining 20 per cent by the Mozambican state. The shares now being offered for public sale are part of ENH's holding.
Announcing the operation, the Minister of Mineral Resources. Esperanca Bias, declared that the main purpose "is that Mozambicans should feel that they are owners of our natural gas".
"All of us are part of the country's wealth, and can participate in development in order to eradicate poverty in Mozambique", she added.
The ten per cent comes to 593,312 shares, each with a nominal value of 275 meticais (about 11.4 US dollars - which means that the total share offer is worth around 6.7 million dollars).
Bias stressed that the share offer is for Mozambicans only. Thus only Mozambican citizens, or companies where at least 60 per cent of the shares are held by Mozambicans, can purchase the shares.
Those interested can buy the shares at any bank. The minimum purchase is ten shares - representing an outlay of 2,750 meticais. In the initial phase, all purchasers will be able to obtain at least 100 shares.
Bias told reporters she was sure that there are plenty of Mozambican companies interested in buying shares - but if she is wrong, then the shares originally earmarked for companies can be sold to individuals.
The share offer runs from 19 to 30 May, and the result will be announced on 4 June. After that date, the shares can be bought and sold on the Mozambican Stock Exchange (BVM). It is expected that the CMH shares will yield dividends.
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"This is a procedure that we want to extend to other areas", said Bias. She was optimistic that current exploration would reveal further gas reserves "and we want all Mozambicans to be part of this".
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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