100% of the Shares of Petroterminal were Acquired by Panama.
To finance the operation, an administration trust was established with the National Bank of Panama, which will use credits and future dividends to cover the cost.
The government of Panama officially completed the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Petroterminal de Panamá (PTP) by buying the remaining 41% private stake for US $191.7 million.
Key Details of the Acquisition
- Ownership Change: The Panamanian state increased its ownership from 59% to 100%, taking full control of the company.
- Seller: The remaining shares were bought from the U.S.-based firm NIC Holding Corp.
- Financing: The $191.7 million buyout was funded entirely through Petroterminal’s own income and cash flow, requiring no new public debt or national treasury funds.
- Legal Basis: The takeover was executed using a pre-existing contractual buyback right established in the original 1977 association contract, rather than an expropriation.
- Strategic Value: Full state ownership allows Panama to control the vital trans-isthmian oil pipeline connecting terminals in Chiriquí Grande and Puerto Armuelles.
Panama became the owner of 100% of the shares of Petroterminal de Panamá, SA (PTP), after acquiring the 82,000 shares that remained in the hands of private shareholders, with a value of $191.7 million. The acquisition was formalized through the exchange and payment of shares, carried out at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), as confirmed by this entity. Representatives from the Comptroller General of the Republic and the National Bank of Panama participated in the process, in addition to the legal, financial and technical teams of the MEF, Petroterminal and the selling shareholders.
To finance the operation, an administration trust was established with the National Bank of Panama, which will use credits and future dividends to cover the cost. That’s why the Minister of Economy, Felipe Chapman, explained that the operation is self-financed by the company’s financial flows, which means there is no direct disbursement from the State. According to the Government, the operation involves consolidating total control of PTP so that the country can directly “manage, preserve and develop” this strategic infrastructure for the transport, storage and handling of hydrocarbons.
Repayment Mechanism.
Once the State owns the shares, the cash dividends declared by PTP will be distributed in an exceptional and temporary manner to pay off the acquired debt:
- 59% of the dividends will be deposited into the General Fund of the National Treasury for ordinary budgetary use.
- 41% of the dividends (which correspond exactly to the newly acquired shares) will be deposited into a special account enabled by the MEF within the National Treasury Single Account, for the sole purpose of canceling the financing obtained by the Trust.
- Subsidiary state guarantee: In the event that dividends are not transferred on time or prove insufficient to cover debt installments, the MEF is authorized to issue additional guarantees with public funds to ensure repayment of the loan.
