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[
back ] New York, March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Pension funds in New York and Kansas said they'll avoid a planned share sale by PetroChina Co., joining the critics who say political considerations could hinder the company's growth. The California Public Employees' Retirement System last month said it was avoiding the planned sale, which the Chinese company has reduced to about $3 billion from $7 billion. Now, the New York City public pension systems, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Kansas Public Employees' Retirement System all said they decided to pass too. ``PetroChina may be under pressure because of active divestment efforts,'' said Robert Woodard, chief investment officer of the $10.5 billion Kansas system. The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, an umbrella group of trade unions, has urged investors to avoid the offering because of the company's treatment of workers. PetroChina's parent, China National Petroleum Corp., ``has been linked to human rights abuses in the Sudan and Tibet, and PetroChina itself is essentially a subsidiary of the Chinese government, which has one of the worst human rights records among the world's economic powers,'' the AFL-CIO said in a report. The Kansas system asked Nomura Securities, which manages $306 million for it, to investigate the IPO. ``They didn't feel it's of sufficient economic merit to warrant an investment,'' Woodard said. ``They just don't feel it's very attractive.'' A spokeswoman for Goldman, Sachs & Co., arranging the sale with China International Capital Corp., declined to comment. Access More Information and Services Above ©2000 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. [
photo | sonam zoksang ] |
