Spain’s Cepsa postpones IPO, blames market conditions

Spanish oil company Cepsa on Monday said it had postponed a market listing planned for Thursday, blaming global market conditions.

The firm said in a statement that Abu Dhabi-based owner Mubadala had “decided to desist” on a planned market listing, citing “the current state of international capital markets.”

The announcement comes a day before the company was to announce its definitive listing price

State investor Mubadala, which has since 2011 held a 100 percent stake in Cepsa, had announced a month ago it intended to sell off a 25 percent share to raise around $2.3 billion.

The planned launch on stock exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia would have valued the group, which employs some 10,000 people, at 8.08 billion euros ($9.35 billion) had investors snapped up shares for the maximum 15.10 euros.

The firm had set a floor price of 13.1 euros.

Madrid-based Cepsa delivered first half profits up 7 percent at 441 million euros on sales of 12.4 billion euros.

Its activities are concentrated on refining and distribution in Spain.

It is also present in oil and gas exploration and production both in Latin America and North Africa.