La Caixa 'talking to Lukoil' on sale of stake in Repsol

MADRID (AFP) - The Spanish savings bank La Caixa said Friday it was negotiating the sale of part of its 14 percent stake in Spanish-Argentine energy group Repsol to the Russian private oil company Lukoil.

But it said the sale was conditional on the acquisition by Lukoil of the 20 percent stake in Repsol held by the Spanish construction group Sacyr Vallehermoso.

"La Caixa is negotiating with a Lukoil representative," the bank said in a statement to the Spanish stock market authorities.

"If Lukoil comes to an agreement with Sacyr Vallehermoso to buy its stake in Repsol... Lukoil could at the same time buy some of the stake in Repsol held by La Caixa," the statement said.

Trading in shares of Repsol was halted early Friday on the Madrid stock exchange but the suspension was later lifted.

Spanish press reports have said Lukoil wants to acquire the 20.1 percent stake in Repsol held by Sacyr Vallehermoso as well as 10 percent controlled by by other shareholders.

Speculation on a possible deal intensified Thursday when Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero left the door open to an acquisition by Lukoil.

"The government must be respectful of the interests of the company and possible negotiations on the integration of other partners," he told a press conference, adding it would be "good" if the firm remained in Spanish hands.

Lukoil has declined to comment on the reports.

Zapatero stressed that Lukoil was privately owned as he tempered comments made earlier Thursday by Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian, who said the government would do "everything possible" to ensure Repsol "remained Spanish and independent."

"We are talking about a private company whose main shareholder is American," Zapatero said, referring to ConocoPhillips.

The Spanish government will ensure that talks regarding the possible entry of new shareholders into the firm "provide favourable results for the strategic interests of Spain and a company like Repsol," he added.

If a deal with Lukoil were struck, it would make the Russian firm the largest shareholder in Repsol, which reported a 5.8 percent fall in third-quarter profits to 699 million euros.

Under Spanish takeover law, a shareholder must launch an offer for the whole company once it passes the 30 percent threshold.

The conservative newspaper ABC has said that Lukoil is actually seeking to buy just 29.9 percent of Repsol to avoid launching a takeover bid for the whole firm, which has major operations in Latin America, Libya and Algeria.

Repsol is also the second largest shareholder in another Spanish energy company, Gas Natural, which is in the process of acquiring the electricity group Union Fenosa.