04 February 2004 09:16
Russian oil giants reach no-penalty divorce deal
LEADING Russian shareholders in oil companies Yukos and Sibneft have finally reached an outline agreement which
should dissolve their $36billion merger.
The demerger should be complete by the third quarter of this year, after approvals from two groups of Yukos's
directors and its shareholders. The deal was struck between Menatep Bank and Millhouse Capital, which represent
Yukos's and Subneft's shareholders.
Millhouse, the management company of Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, said in a statement: "On
February 2, 2004, representatives of the core shareholders of Yukos and Sibneft signed a protocol on the execution of a
de-merger transaction for the two companies.
"The signatories intend to implement the protocol within the shortest period of time possible."
The original terms stipulated that a $1billion break-fee was payable by the side which broke up any merger before it
was completed. However, sources on both sides said last night that a break-fee would not be payable because the merger
was effectively complete before it unravelled.
Paul Collison, an analyst at Brunswick UBS in Moscow, said: "I have told investors 200 times that there is no
break-up fee."
The demerger must be agreed by a board of Yukos's independent directors and the company's executive board.
Once the terms are approved, the deal must be voted on at an extraordinary meeting of Yukos's investors.
Yukos struck a landmark deal last April to merge with Sibneft to create the fourth-biggest oil and gas group. The
deal started to unravel after Yukos's main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on fraud charges in late
October.
[The Daily Telegraph] |
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