A consortium led by US billionaire Todd Boehly is preparing a securities swap to acquire sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil’s international assets and a deal is expected within weeks, four people close to the sales process said.
A bank acting on behalf of the consortium has purchased billions of dollars of frozen Lukoil securities from Western investment funds to exchange for the company’s foreign assets, three of the people said.
The people declined to be identified because they are not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
If completed, the transaction would conclude a sale process that has dragged on for more than a year and initially valued the portfolio involved at $22 billion. Lukoil’s foreign assets include oilfields, refineries and petrol stations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The value of the portfolio has deteriorated as some assets have stopped operating, two people said.
A deal would also test whether Western sanctions can compel a major Russian company to divest international assets while keeping strategic oil operations and limiting financial gains to Moscow.
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