Dana Gas raised US$135 million from the sale of about half its stake in MOL, a Hungarian oil and gas firm, the company said Sunday.
Dana sold 1.675m shares in MOL, one of Dana's partners in a gas project in Iraq's Kurdistan region, on Friday, it said in a statement posted on the Abu Dhabi bourse website. The sale of the 1.6 per cent stake leaves Dana with a 1.4 per cent shareholding in MOL.
Dana has faced difficulties collecting receivables from its operations in Kurdistan and Egypt in recent years, and had to negotiate new terms last year with holders of a $920m Islamic bond, or sukuk, after failing to repay it on time.
The sukuk restructuring, which involves a $70m cash repayment and a pair of new sukuks covering the remaining $850m, is expected to be completed in the first half of the year.
The proceeds from the MOL share sale will be used to meet short-term obligations, including Dana's sukuk restructuring obligations, the company said.
Dana originally acquired the MOL shares in 2009, according to its website. MOL took a 5 per cent interest in the Kurdistan project in exchange for the 3 per cent MOL stake. OMV, an Austrian oil and gas company, also took a 5 per cent stake in the Kurdistan project at the time, paying $175m in cash.
* Dow Jones
