PETROCAN SHARE SALE COMPLETE

A public offering of 39.5 million shares in Canada's state oil company at $13 (Canadian)/share has been sold out, netting $513.5 million. The 42 million shares sold represent about 19.5% of the company. The sale is the first step in federal efforts to privatize Petro-Canada, Calgary. The share price was set at $13 instead of an expected $15 in light of losses earlier this year. Analysts have estimated the company's net asset value at $26.48/share.