Biggest foreign investor on Bucharest Stock Exchange starts selling Petrom stock

The US investment funds managed by Artio Global Investors (the former US investment arm of Swiss bank Julius Baer), which still own the largest portfolio on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, valued at around 130m dollars (100m euros), have started selling stock in OMV Petrom (SNP), the biggest listed Romanian company, according to market sources.
Artio Global funds are the biggest private investors in Petrom, owning a stake of 1.43% in the company in late October, namely more than 800 million shares currently assessed on the Stock Exchange at around 70m euros.
The Americans became an investor in Petrom as early as 2002, shortly after the company's floatation, when the stock price revolved around 0.1 RON, and gradually augmented their stake until the end of 2008, when they halted investments on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and started selling from the other stakes.
Yesterday, Petrom shares hit a new two-year high, of 0.3689 RON/share, registering a 10% increase since the start of the year.
Brokers say that the buyers are also foreign investment funds, attracted on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by the outlook of FP floatation, scheduled for next Tuesday.
As a matter of fact, foreign investors' strategies now largely depend on FP floatation, and Artio Global's sales of Petrom stock may be a way of raising cash to buy FP stock.
Artio Global representatives could not be contacted for comment and official transaction reports are likely to emerge as late as April, when funds publish their January 31 report.