Croatia shortlists 3 for INA sale adviser

The government, which declined to confirm or deny the reports, plans to offer 15 percent of its largest state company, in which Hugary's MOL also has a 25 percent stake.

Local press reports named the three shortlisted bidders as Citigroup , HSBC and Merrill Lynch , all paired with a local bank or brokerage.

Deutsche Bank , UBS and Credit Suisse also participated in the tender.

Business daily Poslovni Dnevnik reported that the government could choose the adviser later this week, but said the decision could also be postponed as some of the candidates that were rejected had voiced dissatisfaction with the tender procedure.

The cabinet said earlier this year it would most probably offer 15 percent of INA on the stock exchange rather than sell it directly to a single investor. This would mark the first time the government has sold a major asset on the local bourse.

MOL bought 25 percent of INA for $505 million and has made no secret of its wish to raise its stake to a majority and, together with INA, expand further in the region.

In an interview with Reuters this year, INA Chief Executive Tomislav Dragicevic put the whole company's value at around $2.5 billion.

Croatia plans to raise some 4.5 billion kuna ($746.2 million) in privatisation revenues this year, but most analysts dismiss that target as unfeasible since they believe the sale of INA is unlikely to be completed before spring next year.

INA has drilling, refining and retail segments and its refineries are connected by a pipeline with a deep-sea oil terminal at Omisalj in northern Adriatic.

Source: Reuters