Belgium's GBL Sells 10% Stake In France's Arkema

Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA (GBLB.BT) said Wednesday it has sold its 10.01% stake in French chemicals company Arkema (AKE.FR) for EUR432 million, without specify the details of the sale.

GBL said that it had placed 6.2 million shares of Arkema and that the sale price was twice the initial investment made in 2006, leading to a EUR220 million gain for the Belgian company.

It added that it would no longer hold any stake in Arkema.

The sale allows GBL "to optimize its financial and strategic flexibility by reducing its net debt," said GBL Chief Executive Albert Frere and executives Ian Gallienne and Gerard Lamarche.

A spokesman for Arkema said the company "does not comment on shareholder movements," adding that it "understands that GBL made the most of an opportunity to make significant gains...that illustrates the tremendous transformation of Arkema over the past six years."

The spokesman also said Arkema didn't know who had acquired the stake.

GBL was unavailable for comment on the matter.

At 1034 GMT, Arkema's shares traded down 4.3% at EUR69.50 while its benchmark index France's SBF120 traded up 0.8%.

-By Nadya Masidlover, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]