Azerbaijan, Baku, May 31 / Trend S.Suleymanov /
The Chinese CIC has become one of the largest minority shareholders in KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG EP), KMG EP General Director Kenzhebek Ibrashev said.
"Among the large minority investors, I should note CIC. This is a long-term investor, and its decision to join the company was seen by market as a positive signal of confidence," he said.
According to Ibrashev, KMG EP minority shareholders include the Kazakh Pension Fund, foreign and Kazakh investment funds, private individuals and banks.
These investors can freely trade shares among themselves, using the Kazakh or London stock exchanges. Minority shareholders change every day as a result of such transactions, he said.
However, Ibrashev stressed that the controlling stake in KMG remains in state hands.
"Before the IPO, the package hit over 95 percent of the shares. After entering the stock market, it decreased to 61 percent of common shares, but then grew to 63 percent," Ibrashev said.
KMG EP is among Kazakhstan's top three oil and gas producers. Its overall production in 2008 amounted to 11.95mmt (an average of 240kbopd) of crude oil.
The company's shares are listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the GDRs are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company raised over $2 billion during its IPO in September 2006. In July 2009, Standard and Poor's international rating agency confirmed KMG EP's "BB+" corporate credit rating and assigned the company a "GAMMA-6" rating.
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