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28 March 2024

MS for Ferrostaal review

Published
By Reuters

Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (Ipic) has appointed Morgan Stanley to conduct a financial and strategic review of Ferrostaal, it said on Tuesday, amid a dispute with its previous majority owner.     

The state-owned investment vehicle owns 70 per cent of the German industrial services firm but has been at loggerheads with MAN SE over the sale of the remaining 30 per cent held by MAN.     

"We have asked Morgan Stanley to support our evaluation work, which focuses on the financial and strategic status of Ferrostaal, and avenues through which Ipic can assist the company," Ipic said in an emailed statement.     

When MAN tried to sell the 30 per cent to IPIC via a put option in early 2010 the sovereign wealth fund refused, due to an unresolved bribery investigation, and later on sought to annul the original purchase agreement.       

Talks between the two sides have stalled, a source close to Ipic told Reuters in May.       

Ipic, which invests across the energy sector for Abu Dhabi, said on Tuesday it hopes MAN will participate in the review as a shareholder.      

A spokesman for Germany's MAN SE said that the company would not inject fresh equity into Ferrostaal if the review by Morgan Stanley came to the conclusion that was necessary.     

"We had a contract with Ipic to sell our 30 per cent, so it would be contradictory were we to participate in a capital increase," he said. "That is not our intention."    

Ipic currently has stakes in 14 companies globally, including Spain's Cepsa , Ferrostaal, Canada's Nova Chemicals, Japan's Cosmo Oil and Borealis.