Consortium led by US businessman seeks to take over Lukoil’s assets under sanctions

The consortium is buying Lukoil securities from Western investment funds, Profit.ro reported.

The securities, currently blocked under international sanctions, would later be placed in an escrow account in exchange for Lukoil’s international assets, including those in Romania. The mechanism avoids generating “windfall gains” to Lukoil – an element that prevented another deal attempted by US bank Xtellus Partners but blocked by the US Treasury.

Boehly, who recently sold his stake in Chelsea football club, has been planning the deal for months, sources familiar with the plans previously told the Financial Times.

The Al-Khayat brothers, of Syrian-Qatari origin, and the American corporation International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) are also supporting the offer, according to the aforementioned sources.

If completed, the transaction would end a sale process that has dragged on for more than a year and initially valued the targeted portfolio at USD 22 billion. Lukoil’s foreign assets include oil fields, refineries and gas stations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.