MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA (REP) should remain private and independent, Repsol Chief Executive Antonio Brufau said late Wednesday.
Russia's OAO Lukoil (LKOH.RS) currently is in talks with construction company Sacyr-Vallehermoso SA (SYV.MC) to buy its 20% stake in Repsol at about EUR28 a share, and to buy a further 9.9% from other shareholders, among them savings bank La Caixa.
If a company buys less than 30% of Repsol, it won't have the right to control it, Brufau stressed. He spoke at a year-end cocktail party with journalists.
"If someone wants influence, he needs to make an offer for 100% (of the company)," Brufau said.
Spanish law stipulates that if one company buys 30% or more in another, it needs to do a full takeover bid, which is why Lukoil is seen trying to keep a possible purchase of a Repsol stake to below 30%.
Brufau also rejected the possibility of the government taking a stake in Repsol. "Public capital shouldn't be in a company such as Repsol," he said.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Tuesday, according to the EFE newswire, had said his government "absolutely" discards the possibility of taking a stake in Repsol to block a purchase by Lukoil.
Brufau Wednesday added that Repsol has made two big hydrocarbon discoveries, but he didn't disclose where, nor what volumes they may contain.
-Bernd Radowitz, +34-618-526-915; bernd.radowitz@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 26, 2008 17:00 ET (22:00 GMT)

Publié le 26 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones