The Ghana Oil Company, popularly known as GOIL is set to go public next Tuesday following final regulatory approval by the Securities Exchange Commission. The event which was described by industry watchers as ground- breaking is the first floatation which will make available 89,815,187 shares to the public, private individuals and corporate investors. The share offer is pegged at 20 Ghana pesewas and opens for a minimum of 300 ordinary shares. GOIL Management sources confirmed the approval in a statement issued in Accra on Wednesday named Merban Stockbrokers Limited, SDC Brokerage Services Limited and Gold Coast Securities powered by MMRS Ogilvy as marketing consultants. GOIL enjoys a current market share of 18 per cent, dominating the lubricant and LP Gas trade and is major player in the general retail business. The company is on record to have posted an impressive net turnover of growth of 39.2 per cent, recording 1.92 trillion cedis as against the 1.38 trillion cedis posted in 2005. This year, GOIL presented an interim dividend of ¢330 per share amounting to ¢10.152 billion to government, the sole shareholder with a proposed final dividend of ¢220 per share amounting to ¢6.769 billion for the year ended December 31, 2006. The company was incorporated in 1960 as AGIP Ghana Limited and became a state-owned company in 1974 when the Ghana government acquired shares in AGIP SPA and Hydrocarbons International Holdings. The government is however, now poised to off-load up to 49 per cent of its shareholdings through an initial public offer to be subsequently listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Government is off-loading its interest to generate funds for national development and other budgetary programmes. It also falls in line with the government's determination to reduce its involvement in the running of commercial entities and release state owned enterprises from its control. Source: GNA