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| Africa North |
| Libya eyes stake in 'bargain BP' |
| 2010-07-05 |
| Share in BP rose 3.5pc to 333.3p in London, following weekend speculation that the company had been in contact with sovereign wealth funds about them buying stakes. Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, told a newswire that: "BP is interesting now with the price lower by half and I still have trust in BP. I will recommend it to the Libyan Investment Authority." He later added: "I think that BP shares are good value for bargain hunters," BP denied that it was planning to issue any new equity, but a weighty shareholder buying up stock on the open market could still help provide a floor on the company's plummeting share price. It declined to comment on any talks with sovereign wealth funds. The oil giant has lost half of its market value since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank on April 20, triggering a catastrophic leak. Qatar, Abu Dhabi and the Kuwait Investment Authority, which already holds 1.8pc of BP, have also been linked to the company as possible investors. One City analyst with a buy rating on BP said any formal deal with Libya would "most likely alienate the US even further" and potentially annoy big shareholders if the deal was done as a placing that dilutes the stock. |
| Posted by:tipper |