BP raises £785m to pay off debt after selling down Aker BP stake

BP has offloaded around a third of its stake in Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP marking a major cash injection as it seeks to bring down its debt pile. The FTSE 100 energy giant told markets on Thursday it had sold a five per cent stake in Aker for around NOK9.83bn (£785m). BP still owns around 68.7m of the remaining shares, leaving it with a holding just shy of 11 per cent. The sale was completed at a price of 311 crowns, marking a 12 per cent discount to Aker’s closing price on the Oslo bourse on Wednesday. “In recent months, [Aker BP] has further increased its value through a combination of its strong performance and the favourable macro environment,” BP boss Meg O’Neil said. “We believe now is the right time for us to realize part of this value to further strengthen BP’s balance sheet, our first priority as we build a simpler, stronger, more valuable BP.” The firm raised its full-year asset sale target by $1bn to roughly $9bn. BP to release new strategy L