In Finland, the government sold 5% of its stake in oil refiner and biofuel company Neste for 861 million euros ($1.0 billion). Some say the government gave up too much control of the company and now only owns 44.7%. The sale price was 67.27 euros per share, compared with Tuesday’s closing price of 69.18 euros.
According to Reuters, “the government said it wanted to capitalize on the stock’s recent strong performance while still holding a strong grip on the company.”
Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintila said in a statement to Reuters, “The state will continue to be a significant shareholder of the company, which will, among other things, ensure the strategic interest relating to the ownership.”
The acting head of the state ownership department Jarmo Vaisanen told Reuters that there were no plans at the moment to cut the stake further.