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To: nspolar who wrote (12450)	8/23/2002 9:21:37 AM
From: jim_p	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 206326

What does this say in english? Umoe Invest Says It Holds 10% Stake in Petroleum Geo By Petter Narvestad Oslo, Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Umoe Invest AS, controlled by Jens Ulltveit-Moe and his family, said it raised its stake in Petroleum Geo-Services ASA, a debt-laden Norwegian mapper of oil reserves, to 10.06 percent. Umoe bought 270,300 PGS shares at about 5.95 kroner each today, lifting its stake to 10.4 million shares. An investor raising his stake to more than 10 percent in any publicly traded company must notify the Oslo exchange, according to Norwegian law. ``I expect he will want to take part in deciding where PGS is heading,'' said Richard Jansen, an analyst at ABG Sundal Collier ASA, who has his rating under review. ``Ulltveit-Moe is a competent person, and should have a positive influence. PGS hasn't had very active owners in the past years.'' PGS shares have dropped 91 percent this year as it failed to merge with rival Veritas DGC Inc. of the U.S. and hasn't been able to sell assets to cut debt. The company has about $930 million in loans due in the second half of next year, which it won't be able to pay back with cash from operations. The shares rose 0.36 krone, or 6.3 percent, to 6.05 kroner at 2:15 p.m. in Oslo and traded as high as 6.3 kroner. They've more than doubled this week, valuing the company at 625 million kroner ($82 million). The shares are the worst performer on the OBX benchmark index this year. Ultveit-Moe, president of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry, sold the oil and natural gas activities of Umoe ASA to ABB Ltd. two years ago for an undisclosed amount in excess of $103 million. Some of it has been invested in Unitor ASA, a ship equipment supplier, and some in Norwegian farm equipment maker Kverneland ASA. ``We don't know what his intensions are,'' said Dag Reynolds, a PGS spokesman. ``Still, it's positive that he's willing to invest this heavily in the company