Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation will be sold to the CEFC China Energy group, confirmed António Costa Silva, the chairman of the oil company of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, speaking to Portuguese daily newspaper Público.

Costa Silva said the “complex negotiation is underway” and added “I think there is a great possibility of it coming to fruition,” and the newspaper reported said that this deal could be worth 500 million euros.

“It is a large Chinese conglomerate that started in refining, terminals, logistics, recently started exploration and production in the Middle East, Russia, and chose Partex as a kind of platform for investments in the first segment,” said the chairman of Partex.

Preliminary figures released by the newspaper show that the company increased sales to US$320 million and the net result to US$67 million in 2017.

The chairman of Partex also said that the heads of the CEFC China Energy group “have a very clear vision of what they want, which is to transform the Portuguese company into a global platform,” and are “more interested in the Partex team, which has great influence, especially in the Middle East, than in the assets.”

If the purchase agreement is closed, this will be CEFC’s second major deal in Portugal, after buying a controlling stake in insurance company Lusitânia in November from mutual association Montepio, which is still waiting for a green light from the regulator.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation holds 100% of the share capital of Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation, which was founded in 1938 by Armenian businessman Calouste Gulbenkian. (macauhub)