Neste Oil to sell interest in Ibn Zahr

Neste Oil Corp. plans to sell its 10% holding in Saudi European Petrochemical Co. (Ibn Zahr) to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) for $120 million.

March 28, 2006

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 28 -- Neste Oil Corp. plans to sell its 10% holding in Saudi European Petrochemical Co. (Ibn Zahr) to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) for $120 million.

Neste Oil will book a capital gain on the sale of €85 million. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The transaction will give Sabic 80% of Ibn Zahr shares. Other shareholders, Arab Petroleum Investment Corp. (Apicorp) and Italy's Ecofuel SPA, hold 10% each.

Neste Oil has been a shareholder in Ibn Zahr since its foundation in December 1984. The company, which produces methyl tertiary butyl ether and polypropylene, is in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia.