Rosneft to buy TNK-BP for US$54.8b in third-biggest oil deal
Russian giant agrees to acquire BP's 50pc stake in country's third-largest oil firm for US$54.8b
Rosneft agreed to buy TNK-BP, a 50-50 venture between BP and a group of billionaires, for US$54.8 billion in the third-biggest oil acquisition ever.
By absorbing Russia's third-largest oil firm, state-run Rosneft will match the output of Exxon Mobil and control more than 40 per cent of Russia's crude output.
President Vladimir Putin, who has sought to reassert government control over the world's largest oil and gas industry, said yesterday's accord was important for the economy.
"This deal is in line with the Russian government's strategy of reversing the privatisation of oil and gas resources that took place in the 1990s," said Andrey Golubov, a finance lecturer at Cass Business School in London. The deal put Rosneft "on par with global giants like Exxon Mobil".
Rosneft, led by chief executive Igor Sechin, would buy BP's 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP for US$26.8 billion in cash and shares and had an initial agreement to acquire the billionaires' half of the company for US$28 billion in cash, a statement said.
BP will take a 19.75 per cent stake in Rosneft and two seats on the board. The deal is BP's biggest for 13 years and chief executive Bob Dudley's boldest move yet to transform the company after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.