Shares in Cepsa fell sharply on the stock exchange today after the news broke that Banco Santander and the energy company Unión Fenosa were both on the point of selling off their combined 36.6% share in the petrol company.

The two companies confirmed that they were negotiating a share price of between 30 & 35 euros, considerably less than Tuesday's closing prices of 66.75 euros.

Banco Santander, which holds 31.65% of the shares in Cepsa, and Unión Fenosa, which holds 5%, have been in negotiations with the United Arab Emirates state copmany, IPIC, which already holds 9.54% of the shares in Cepsa, since September last year.

A spokesperson for the bank informed members of the press today that although negotiations were underway, no agreement had been reached.  Other market sources have suggested that the bank, whose president Emilio Botín, stands to pocket between 2.5 and 2.9 billion euros, had no intention of selling the shares below 45 euros.

If the sale does go ahead, it would make IPIC the second largest shareholder in Cepsa, with 46,29%, behind Total, which controls 48.83% of the shares.

The price range being bandied about by Banco Santander and Unión Fenosa would value Cepsa at between 8 and 9.3 billion euros, compared with today's stock exchange capitalisation of almost 10.5 billion euros.