Fourteen investors show interest in Unipetrol

Fourteen investors have shown interest in the Czech state's 63 % stake in the petrochemical giant Unipetrol, according to the National Property Fund (FNM). The FNM does not expect the final list of bidders to be much longer, although there could be "one or two more names," deputy executive committee chairman Pavel Kuta told.
The deadline for preliminary bids has been extended to January. Cabinet is to choose a new owner by March 2004.

Some bidders have officially announced their interest, among them, Hungarian oil and gas concern MOL and a consortium comprising Poland's PKN Orlen and the Czech company Agrofert. The Czech-Slovak financial group Penta and the Kazakh oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz have both expressed an intention to bid.
A government source said other bidders include Hungary's BorsodChem, Raiffeisenbank CEE Private Equity Fund backed by the US insurer AIG, Romar Oil, Bohemia Best, Kazakhstan Investment Company, the Czech firm Vitkovice Research Development, Shell, and Italy's ENI.

It's estimated the government could earn as much as CZK 15 bn on the sale. Cabinet will also sell claims against Unipetrol subsidiaries with a nominal value of CZK 4.1 bn. This could bring in another CZK 3.4 bn according to analysts.
The state's first attempt to sell Unipetrol failed last year when the winning bidder -- the Agrofert Holding -- failed to pay the EUR 361 mm (CZK 11.5 bn) purchase price.