China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) announced here Thursday its plan to buy the rest 30 percent of Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Co. it doesn't own, aiming to delist the later from Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges.

The amount of cash required to be paid under the proposal is approximately 3,846 million HK dollars (502 million US dollars). If accepted by Beijing Yanhua's minority shareholders, the move will enable Sinopec to delist the unit as part of a consolidation of its petrochemical assets.

Sinopec said it will offer minority shareholders 3.80 HK dollars per share, 10.9 percent higher than its closing price of 3.425 HK dollars before its H shares were suspended from trading Dec.22.

Under the merger agreement, Beijing Yanhua, the dual listed company in Hong Kong and New York stock exchange, will be merged into Beijing Feitian, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinopec, and all the assets and liabilities and the employees of Beijing Yanhua will be assumed by Beijing Feitian.

Observers say the merger would make Beijing Yanhua the first Chinese mainland company to be delisted in Hong Kong and New York stock exchange.

Sinopec is the second largest crude oil and gas producer, and the largest oil refiner in China. Its share are traded in Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and London stock exchanges.

Source: Xinhua