Mobil Sells South African Operation at Bargain Price

Mobil Oil Co., the largest U.S. company remaining in South Africa, is selling its operations at bargain prices to the oil subsidiary of a South African mining conglomerate, newspapers reported today.

Mobil representatives in South Africa and the United States remained tight-lipped about the reports, which have sent the stock price of General Mining Union Corp.’s subsidiary, Trek, soaring on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Business Day of Johannesburg quoted “banking and other sources” as confirming the sale of about $400 million in assets for $150 million and said the Mobil properties would be sold in separate deals over a period of time.

Mobil has been in South Africa for 90 years, and its four subsidiaries employ almost 2,800 people. Since Exxon Corp., the largest U.S. oil concern, pulled out of South Africa in 1986, Mobil had insisted that it would not bow to pressure to sell.

The South African Broadcasting Corp. reported today that Mobil may have changed its stance on disinvestment because of a bill passed by the U.S. Congress in its rush to adjourn before Christmas in 1987.