South Africa's government-owned oil corporation, PetroSA, considered purchasing the majority stake in Engen. Engen was the country's largest fuel retailer. It was owned by the Malaysian government. The information came from people familiar with the announcement given to the staffs of Engen.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd. was an oil company branded as Petronas in Malaysia. It held 80% of Engen. Pembani Group Ltd., Johannesburg-based private equity firm owned the rest of the stakes.

PetroSA, which was headquartered in Cape Town, would conduct a due procedure that would take around three to six months. After the said process, PetroSA would be expected to decide whether it would acquire Petronas or not, the sources said. They cited Engen's CEO, Datuk Ahmad Nizam Salleh, as the official who addressed the staffs yesterday.

"PetroSA has over the last couple of years indicated a willingness to look for downstream opportunities," the company stated in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg today. "To fulfill this objective, we have over this period been engaged in a series of negotiations with various potential partners."