THE HINDUJA Group plans an $800m (£550m) to $1bn (£685m) Saudi initial public offering (IPO) this year of lubricants maker Petromin, an official with the Indian family conglomerate said today.
Saudi Arabia-based Petromin is an equal joint venture between the Gulf Oil International Group, owned by the Hinduja Group, and the Dabbagh Group of Saudi Arabia.
“Soon, we will be finalising the timeline and the exact valuations,” Sanjay Hinduja, chairman of Gulf Oil International, told reporters, adding the group is aiming for a listing in 2010 or at the latest in the first quarter of 2011.
Saudi British Bank, HSBC’s affiliate in the kingdom, is managing Petromin’s IPO, Hinduja said.
Hinduja also said the group was planning an IPO in Hong Kong for Gulf Oil Marine, another unit of Gulf Oil International that provides the shipping industry with marine lubricants and technical services, in two to three years. Both listings require various approvals.
A listing of Gulf’s European business is another eventual possibility, he said.
Petromin’s owners plan to sell 30 per cent of Petromin, the minimum float required in Saudi Arabia, through the IPO, Hinduja said.
The lubricants maker has a 38 per cent share of the downstream oil products business in Saudi Arabia and has $500m (£345m) in annual revenue, Hinduja said, adding that Petromin is looking for acquisitions in the region to boost its business.
Gulf Oil International and the Dabbagh Group paid $200m (140m) in 2007 to buy Petromin from a 71-29 per cent joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Mobil Investments, an affiliate of ExxonMobil.
It has a production capacity of 300,000 metric tonnes for lubricants and greases combined, it said.
Separately, Gulf Oil is planning a tie-up with a British firm to enter the defence business in India, Hinduja said, without giving details.
The Hinduja Group also plans to build 10,000 megawatts of thermal power in India over five years, another Hinduja official said.
The Hinduja Group, which also has interests in the financial and automobile businesses, last month acquired Belgian banking and insurance group KBC’s private banking arm KBL European Private Bankers for $1.7bn.
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