Cepsa

4 April 2006 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

The two sides fell out when Santander tried to force Total to buy it out of the Spanish oil company in 2003 by raiding the shares. The French have seen off the Spanish bank through the courts, ending up with near control on juicy terms.

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An arbitration court in the Hague delivered a ruling in favour of French oil giant Total in their battle for control with Santander over Spain's second biggest oil firm, Cepsa. The court upheld Total's claim that Spain's biggest bank had acted in bad faith when it broke the original shareholder agreement between Total and Santander.

Under the arbitration decision, Total will be able to increase its direct holding in Cepsa from 37% to 49.6%, through a transfer of shares currently locked up in the holding company Somaen Dos and through the compulsory purchase of a 4.3% stake from Santander for under E5 a share. Cepsa shares are currently trading at E45.

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