GS may buy stake in Hyundai Oil

Korea’s energy and retail conglomerate GS Group is considering buying a stake in Hyundai Oilbank Corp., the nation’s No. 4 refiner, industry sources said yesterday.
The move comes after International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, an oil investment fund of the United Arab Emirates, said in May that it plans to sell half of its 70-percent stake in Hyundai Oilbank.
“GS Group delivered its intention to buy an interest in Hyundai Oilbank from IPIC,” an industry source said on condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately known how much of a stake GS Group is seeking to acquire.
The Abu Dhabi-based oil investment fund contacted Korean companies such as GS Group, S-Oil Corp., SK Corp. and Lotte Group about the stake sale, he said.
GS Group, which has No. 2 industry player GS-Caltex Corp. under its wing, has been showing great interest in the stake purchase, while other refiners have been reluctant due to the financial burden, the source said.
GS Group, however, said it has yet to make a decision on the matter. “We are currently reviewing the offer by IPIC. Nothing has been decided,” said Ahn Yong-mo, a spokesman for GS Caltex.
IPIC started purchasing shares in Hyundai Oilbank in 1999 and increased its stake to 70 percent in February last year.