MELBOURNE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Santos Ltd STO.AX said on Friday that Hony Capital had snapped up 2.25 percent of the oil and gas producer's shares for A$159.2 million ($121.2 million), with the Chinese private equity firm rebuilding its holding in the company.
Hony Capital, whose backers include state-sponsored Legend Holdings 3396.HK and Singapore's Temasek, earlier this year sold down an 11.7 percent stake in Santos to Chinese gas distributor ENN and at the same time took a stake in ENN.
"Santos has made enquiries with Hony Capital this morning who have confirmed that they were successful in acquiring an additional 40 million shares in Santos, increasing their interest in the company to approximately 3.2 percent," Santos said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.
Hony paid A$3.98 a share, an 11 percent premium to Santos' closing price on Thursday, Santos said.
Santos shares jumped nearly 7 percent to a high of A$3.82 on Friday, outpacing gains the broader market.
($1 = 1.3139 Australian dollars)