Sapura Energy Berhad has received shareholders approval for the 50:50 strategic partnership with Austria’s OMV Aktiengesellschaft. In a statement, the group said the proposal was passed with 99.98% of the votes in favour at the extraordinary general meeting.
Under the parnership, OMW will acquire a 50% stake in Sapura Energy's wholly owned subsidiary Sapura Upstream Sdn Bhd, based on an enterprise value of up to RM6.6bil.
The group will receive up to RM4bil in cash and recognise a net gain of RM2.7bil for the 50% stake sale.
According to the statement, the group will receive total cash proceeds of RM7.6bil immediately from the rights issue and strategic partnership with OMV.
The cash proceeds will go towards repaying the group's borrowings and its gearing ratio is expected to drop from 1.74x to 0.62x, while a portion of the proceeds will fund working capital requirements.
"This, together with the savings in finance charges, is expected to positively contribute towards the Group’s future earnings," it said.
"We are grateful for the tremendous support from our shareholders, which we believe demonstrates their confidence in our vision to move the business forward.
"This is the key milestone in completing the deal, which is good for the Group and for our shareholders,” said Sapura Energy president and group CEO Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin.
