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Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Company is considering a partial or total sale of Spanish oil and gas company Cepsa and would use proceeds for expansion, a Mubadala spokesman told Reuters on Friday.
The state-owned fund is working with Cepsa management to look at options including a listing or the sale of a stake to another investor, it confirmed in a statement.
Mubadala wholly owns the Spanish company which refines oil and distributes fuel. Cepsa also has exploration and production interests in Latin America, north Africa and Asia.
After years of stake-building in Cepsa, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund bought the remaining shares it did not already own from France's Total in 2011, in a deal valuing the Spanish company at around 7.5 billion euros ($9.3 billion).
"Options under consideration will include a potential listing, strategic partnerships and the involvement of other investors," Mubadala said in an emailed statement.
A Cepsa spokeswoman in Madrid confirmed its owner was looking at a potential stock listing or sale.
Abu Dhabi produces most of the oil in the United Arab Emirates, which has the world's seventh largest proved oil and gas reserves. It holds 6.0 per cent of world crude reserves.
Mubadala's chief executive officer said last year it was lining up new overseas investments and may also sell or reduce some of its existing stakes in companies.
Cepsa on Thursday reported a 60 per cent jump in adjusted net profit, helped by an increase in the oil price and greater profitability at its refineries. Core profit jumped 18 per cent to 1.87 billion euros.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in February awarded a 20 per cent stake to Cepsa in Abu Dhabi's offshore Sateh Al Razboot and Umm Lulu oil fields in the Persian Gulf.