Vienna-headquartered oil and gas company, OMV has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company to acquire its stake in Borealis – an Austrian-based petrochemical company, for $4.68 billion.
OMV which currently owns a 36 per cent stake in Borealis will get an additional 39 per cent stake from Mubadala, making the former a majority shareholder in Borealis. Following completion, OMV will get a 75 per cent interest in Borealis, while Mubadala will retain the rest. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2020 and is subject to regulatory approvals, OMV stated.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director and group CEO of Mubadala stated that this is the largest transaction ever for the company as well as the biggest acquisition in OMV’s history.
“We have signed a landmark, multi-billion dollar deal, the largest single transaction in both Mubadala and OMV‘s history. It is also fully aligned with our long-term strategy as a company,” he said, adding that this marks the culmination of several months of discussions between OMV and Mubadala.
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO for the Petroleum & Petrochemicals division of Mubadala, stated: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with our longstanding partner, OMV. For Mubadala, the decision is consistent with our strategy of actively managing our portfolio, and taking opportunities to realise value when conditions are right.”
“We remain very confident in Borealis as a leading company in its sector. We will continue to hold a significant interest in the company, through the direct 25 percent interest that we will retain, along with our existing 24.9 percent shareholding in OMV. As a significant shareholder in OMV, we recognise the strong strategic fit and the complementary nature of Borealis’ business in expanding its downstream position,” he added.
Rainer Seele, executive board chairman and CEO at OMV said the transaction was not just another milestone in the implementation of its strategy, but the biggest transformation in OMV’s history.
“This turns the company OMV into an internationally important oil, gas and chemicals group, whose integrated business model extends from well to high-quality plastic along an extended value chain and repositions the Group for a low carbon future,” he said.
Meanwhile, Alfred Stern, CEO of Borealis, said: “We believe Borealis will benefit from OMV’s high strategic interest and growth aspirations in the chemical sector as an industrial investor, as we will be able to identify synergies and then leverage these to the best of our mutual interest.”
“Borealis will continue to provide value creation through innovation to its customers and work to keep discovering together with its suppliers and partners, independent of the changed balance of control,” he concluded.