China move: Sinopec is restructuring
Sinopec trio set to delist
Three Sinopec units are set to delist from the Shenzhen stock exchange from tomorrow as the Chinese giant simplifies its structure.
Zhongyuan Petroleum, Shengli Oil Field Dynamic Group and Yangzi Petrochemical will delist from the Shenzhen, they said in separate statements posted in official newspapers today.
"After Sinopec completed the takeover of our company's majority stake, shares owned by the public have dropped to less than 10%," said the statement by Yangzi Petro. "That makes us no longer qualified for listing, in line with rules."
The other two companies gave the same reason.
After Sinopec unveiled a plan late last year to buy out Zhenhai Refining & Chemical, analysts calculated that Sinopec would need to pay over $4 billion to buy 10 or so remaining "baby Sinopecs" listed in Hong Kong and China.
A sleeker corporate structure could prove crucial as Sinopec and larger rival PetroChina heed Beijing's call to buy and operate overseas oil resources, to alleviate the country's heavy reliance on imported crude.