World's Top Oil Trader to Raise Stake in Pakistan Fuel Retailer

(Bloomberg) -- Vitol Group Ltd. is poised to increase its stake in Pakistan fuel retailer Hascol Petroleum Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The world’s biggest independent oil trader intends to remain a minority shareholder after the increase, which it will do so through Hascol’s planned rights issue, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Vitol, which now holds 27.5% in Hascol, has gradually increased its stake since first acquiring 15% in April 2016. A Vitol spokeswoman in London declined to comment. An official from Hascol didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment.

Hascol announced it would issue rights at 10 rupees in a bid to raise 8 billion rupees, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday. Shares rose as much as 4.4% on Wednesday after the announcement.

Hascol posted a net loss of 5.4 billion rupees in the April-June period, the biggest quarterly fall since at least 2014, when Bloomberg started compiling the data. The retailer last month announced it’s looking to raise 6 billion rupees ($39 million) through the rights issue.

To contact the reporters on this story: Faseeh Mangi in Karachi at fmangi@bloomberg.net;Andy Hoffman in Geneva at ahoffman31@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Helen Robertson, Christopher Sell

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