(updates with more details of IPO, company's ownership)
LISBON (AFX) - The Portuguese government set its initial public offering price for the sale of up to 23 pct of oil and gas company Galp Energia at between 5.06 and 6.12 eur per share.
The offer will comprise 190.8 mln shares and will value Portugal's biggest oil-and-gas company at between 4.2 and 5.1 bln eur.
Dealing will start on the Lisbon stock exchange on Oct 23, the government said in a statement following a weekly cabinet meeting that approved the measure.
The government, which owns about 30 pct of Galp Energia, had previously said it planned to list up to 25 pct of the firm's shares.
Galp posted a record net profit of 442 mln eur in 2005, a 33 pct jump over the previous year.
Galp's other core shareholders are ENI SpA with 33.34 pct, Amorim Energia with 31.6 pct and Iberdrola SA with 4 pct.
Diario de Noticias said the IPO plan also includes an option to cut the price by 10 pct, reducing Galp's value to 3.8 mln eur and lowering the price per share to around 4.5 eur.
The banks managing the issue were hoping in early September that the IPO weould value Galp at around 6.2 bln eur, Publico newspaper noted.
The daily cited market sources as saying the lower than expected IPO price is because of the 20 pct fall in oil prices since the beginning of August.
equitynext@afxnews.com an COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
© 2006 AFX News
