Australian LNG player Santos said on Monday the company’s largest shareholder China’s ENN Group has sold about a third of its stake worth A$785 million ($604 million).
Chinese private gas distributor and LNG terminal operator, ENN offloaded about 107.1 million shares at A$7.33 per share, representing a 5.14% stake in Santos, the Australian company said in a statement.
“ENN has advised Santos that it remains fully supportive of Santos’ strategy and future direction,” the statement said.
In addition, the Chinese firm remains Santos’ largest single shareholder with a 9.97% stake, but a 2017 strategic relationship agreement regarding board representation and other matters fell through, according to Santos.
Accordingly, the ENN-nominated director Eugene Shi will resign from the Santos board following completion of the sale.
To remind, Santos, ENN, and Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital signed the strategic relationship deal in June 2017.
Under the deal, the duo planned to invest in Santos’ upstream gas reserves but also LNG production in Australia and PNG.