Iran has announced that it will allow foreign firms to purchase shares of Iranian state-run companies, with the possibility of complete ownership.
Iran will allow foreign companies and nationals to purchase unlimited shares of state-run enterprises which are in the process of being sold to private sector, said the head of Iran’s Privatization Organization, Gholamreza Heidari Kord-Zangeneh.
According to IRIB, the move is designed to attract greater foreign investment and is part of the country’s sweeping economic liberalization program.
Iran will no longer make a distinction between domestic and foreign firms wanting to buy state-run companies--provided that the combined ownership of foreign firms in any given ’industry’ does not exceed 35 percent, Kord-Zangeneh said.
For example, a foreign firm may purchase an Iranian steel company but would not be permitted to buy every business enterprise in Iran’s steel industry.
Among the new incentive, foreign firms may also repatriate profits in any currency they wish. After three years, they may also transfer the principal capital out of Iran, Kord-Zangeneh said.
In May, Iran approved the purchase of its state-run Razi Petrochemical Company by a Turkish consortium to further privatize its industries.