Ashmore gets Dec 5 deadline

The government has given the Ashmore Group until Dec. 5 to exercise its right of first refusal on the government’s 40-percent stake in Petron Corp., or almost three weeks from the Nov. 15 deadline earlier announced by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.

However, Finance Undersecretary Crisanta Legaspi refused to call it an extension, stressing that the documents on the sale of Petron stipulate that the deadline of Ashmore is Dec. 5.

“The Nov. 15 was just the initial expectations,” she said.

So far, the London-listed fund manager which owns over 50 percent of Petron, has not exercised its right.

The government hopes to sell its 40- percent stake in Petron, the country’s largest oil refiner before the end of the year after the Finance department-led privatization council approved the sale last September.

The government has decided to sell its stake in Petron Corp., considered a crown jewel in the oil industry, to raise revenues for social services and infrastructure projects.

Legaspi said the government hopes to raise roughly P25 billion from the transaction and hopes to book the revenues by December.

She said that the government is ready to offer its stake to other investors if Ashmore does not exercise its right of first refusal.

The Ashmore group earlier purchased the 40-percent stake of Saudi Arabia-based Aramco Overseas Co. in Petron for $550 million.

Acquiring the government’s stake will give Ashmore over 90 percent of Petron and full control of Petron.

The government’s sale of its stake in Petron, meanwhile, will end an era of state control in the oil refining business which started in the early 70s.