New Delhi: The board of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Monday gave ‘in-principle’ approval to acquire the government’s 51.11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), the company said in a regulatory filing.
The board at its meeting on Monday constituted a committee of directors to “examine various aspects” of the acquisition and “to provide its recommendations to the board of directors”, it said.
The government last month had approved sale of its 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL to India’s largest oil producer ONGC.
Prior to the merger, HPCL is likely to take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63 per cent of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96 per cent stake in it.
Sources said ONGC will not have to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL as the government’s holding is being transferred to another state-run firm and the ownership isn’t changing.
The deal will be completed within a year, he said. HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition, the source said.
