IN BRIEF : Britain Extends Kuwait Time Limit
Britain said today that it is giving Kuwait three years to divest more than half of its stake in British Petroleum Co., Britain’s biggest company.
Trade and Industry Secretary Lord Young, who told the Kuwait Investment Office in October that it had one year to cut its BP stake from 21.6% to 9.9%, said he was extending that period to three years.
Kuwait had asked for a five-year time limit.
The cut in its BP holding was ordered after Britain’s watchdog Monopolies and Merger Commission judged that it could lead to a conflict of interests. Kuwait is a major oil producer and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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