Australia's Santos to raise A$3.5b through asset, share sales

[MELBOURNE] Santos Ltd plans to raise A$3 billion (S$2.98 billion) through two share sales on Monday, after completing a strategic review in which it rejected a range of offers for assets except a stake in an Australian gas field sold to Japan's Mitsui & Co.

Santos, scrambling to pay down A$8.8 billion in net debt, had long resisted issuing equity, but it said on Monday it would offer A$3 billion in new stock to existing shareholders and sell A$500 million in new shares to a Chinese private equity firm, Hony Capital.

The private placement is being priced at a 15 per cent premium to Santos' last trade.

REUTERS