The value of small cap stock for Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:HNR) increased by a significant margin during trading on Friday, as news that the company sold its oil assets in Venezuela positively affected investor sentiment.
Bloomberg News reported that PT Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned oil company, will buy the oil assets in Venezuela from Harvest Natural Resources for $725 million in cash. The firm looked to withdraw from the South American country due to the political risk associated with doing business there.
"An American company does not have any leverage whatsoever in terms of getting their capital out of the country," Zachary Prensky, an analyst with Little Bear Research in New York, told the news outlet. "The people getting in to Venezuela are governments."
Reuters reported that the company's shares jumped in value as it expects to keep about $525 million in net proceeds from the sale following deductions for transaction-related costs and taxes.
The value of the company's stock rose by $4.31 to $9.17, an increase of 87.9 percent at 12:36 p.m. on June 22.
