TNK-BP to acquire BP's Vietnam, Venezuela assets

Russian oil company TNK-BP said on Monday it had agreed a deal with its part-owner BP to acquire the troubled British oil giant's assets in Vietnam and Venezuela for US$1.8 billion.

TNK-BP, Russia's third-biggest oil company, is owned 50 percent by BP and 50 percent by a group of Russian billionaires including banking magnate Mikhail Fridman known collectively as Alfa Access-Renova (AAR).

The divestment is in line with a plan by BP to sell up to $30 billion (€21.2 billion) of assets by the end of 2011 to help meet its financial obligations from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"Today's agreement is further evidence of the rapid progress BP is making towards the divestment target we set out in July," BP's new chief executive, Robert Dudley, said in a statement

Dudley, who replaced Tony Hayward after the oil spill catastrophe, said that the acquisition would give TNK-BP a solid foundation to build its business outside Russia.

TNK-BP almost imploded during a venomous shareholder conflict between the co-owners in 2008 but the dispute was patched up when shareholders agreed to appoint Maxim Barsky chief executive effective from January 1, 2011, with Fridman taking the reins in the interim.

Ironically, Dudley was ousted as TNK-BP chief executive at the height of the conflict. With relations now smooth, Hayward has been nominated as non-executive director at TNK-BP after his departure from BP.

TNK-BP, which operates huge oil fields in Siberia and accounts for 16 percent of Russian production, has long been considered one of BP's crown jewels.

"The acquisitions in Venezuela and Vietnam mark a milestone in TNK-BP's strategic expansion in the global energy market," said Fridman, who is serving as acting chief executive of the company, in a TNK-BP statement.

TNK-BP said a deposit of $1 billion will be made by October 29 with final payment upon completion.

"Subject to government approvals and the fulfilment of other agreed pre-closing conditions, the companies expect the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2011."

According to the terms of the agreements, in Venezuela TNK-BP will acquire from BP a 16.7 percent equity stake in the PetroMonagas SA extra heavy oil producer, a 40 percent stake in Petroperija SA which operates the DZO field, and a 26.7 percent stake in Boqueron SA.

The deal comes after Russian and Venezuela on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding supporting the acquisition, at a ceremony in the Kremlin attended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev.

In Vietnam, TNK-BP will acquire from BP a 35-percent stake in an upstream offshore gas production block containing the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas condensate fields, a 32.7-percent stake in the Nam Con Son Pipeline and Terminal, and a 33.3-percent stake in the Phu My 3 power plant.

The acquisitions of the assets in Venezuela and Vietnam will bring TNK-BP net proved and probable reserves of 290 million barrels of oil equivalent, it said.

TNK-BP has also expressed interest in acquiring BP's assets in Algeria and the issue was discussed earlier this month during a visit by Medvedev to the North African country.

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TNK-BP to acquire BP's Vietnam, Venezuela assets

Russian oil company TNK-BP said on Monday it had agreed a deal with its part-owner BP to acquire the troubled British oil giant's assets in Vietnam and Venezuela for US$1.8 billion.

TNK-BP, Russia's third-biggest oil company, is owned 50 percent by BP and 50 percent by a group of Russian billionaires including banking magnate Mikhail Fridman known collectively as Alfa Access-Renova (AAR).

The divestment is in line with a plan by BP to sell up to $30 billion (€21.2 billion) of assets by the end of 2011 to help meet its financial obligations from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"Today's agreement is further evidence of the rapid progress BP is making towards the divestment target we set out in July," BP's new chief executive, Robert Dudley, said in a statement

Dudley, who replaced Tony Hayward after the oil spill catastrophe, said that the acquisition would give TNK-BP a solid foundation to build its business outside Russia.

TNK-BP almost imploded during a venomous shareholder conflict between the co-owners in 2008 but the dispute was patched up when shareholders agreed to appoint Maxim Barsky chief executive effective from January 1, 2011, with Fridman taking the reins in the interim.

Ironically, Dudley was ousted as TNK-BP chief executive at the height of the conflict. With relations now smooth, Hayward has been nominated as non-executive director at TNK-BP after his departure from BP.

TNK-BP, which operates huge oil fields in Siberia and accounts for 16 percent of Russian production, has long been considered one of BP's crown jewels.

"The acquisitions in Venezuela and Vietnam mark a milestone in TNK-BP's strategic expansion in the global energy market," said Fridman, who is serving as acting chief executive of the company, in a TNK-BP statement.

TNK-BP said a deposit of $1 billion will be made by October 29 with final payment upon completion.

"Subject to government approvals and the fulfilment of other agreed pre-closing conditions, the companies expect the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2011."

According to the terms of the agreements, in Venezuela TNK-BP will acquire from BP a 16.7 percent equity stake in the PetroMonagas SA extra heavy oil producer, a 40 percent stake in Petroperija SA which operates the DZO field, and a 26.7 percent stake in Boqueron SA.

The deal comes after Russian and Venezuela on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding supporting the acquisition, at a ceremony in the Kremlin attended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev.

In Vietnam, TNK-BP will acquire from BP a 35-percent stake in an upstream offshore gas production block containing the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas condensate fields, a 32.7-percent stake in the Nam Con Son Pipeline and Terminal, and a 33.3-percent stake in the Phu My 3 power plant.

The acquisitions of the assets in Venezuela and Vietnam will bring TNK-BP net proved and probable reserves of 290 million barrels of oil equivalent, it said.

TNK-BP has also expressed interest in acquiring BP's assets in Algeria and the issue was discussed earlier this month during a visit by Medvedev to the North African country.

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BP sells Vietnam energy assets to Russian group

Russia’s third largest oil and gas company TNK-BP announced on
October 18 that the company had reached an agreement to buy assets worth
about 1.8 billion USD from British oil company BP in Vietnam and
Venezuela.

The deal is part of a series of sales BP is making to help pay for oil
spill damages in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be financed entirely by
TNK-BP, which is owned 50-50 by BP and a group of Russian tycoons.

Under the deal, in Venezuela, TNK-BP will buy BP’s 16.7 percent stake
of PetroMonagas SA and 26.7 percent stake of Boqueron SA.

In Vietnam, the company will acquire BP’s 35 percent of stake in a
upstream offshore gas project including Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields, a
32.7 percent stake in Nam Con Son Pipeline and Terminal, and a 33.3
percent stake in Phu My 3 power plant.

“The
acquisitions in Venezuela and Vietnam mark a milestone in TNK-BP's
strategic expansion in the global energy market,” TNK-BP CEO Mikhail
Fridman said. He also expressed his company’s interest in buying BP
assets in Algeria./.

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Ford to sell most of stake in Japan's Mazda: reports

TOKYO - US carmaker Ford Motor has decided to sell the bulk of its 11 percent stake in Japan's Mazda Motor and invest the money instead in emerging markets, reports said Saturday.

Ford, which has been the top shareholder in the Hiroshima-based automaker since 1979, plans to slash its current equity stake of 11 percent to three percent or less, the Nikkei business daily said without naming its sources.

At times Ford has owned more than a third of Mazda, but started cutting its stake in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The two firms have reached a basic agreement on the deal, Nikkei said. The Mazda shares held by Ford are worth a total of 42 billion yen (US$515 million) based on Friday's closing price on the Tokyo stock market.

Jiji Press said Ford would use the money it gains through the sale to invest in emerging countries with high growth potential. The two companies are expected to make a formal decision in November, Jiji said.

Mazda, Japan's fifth largest automaker, declined to comment on the reports, saying they were "the result of speculation" by journalists.

"Mazda and Ford continue to enjoy a close strategic partnership and there is no change to this relationship. As before, we continue to cooperate in areas of mutual benefit. We do not comment on speculation," it said in a statement.

Mazda spokesman Kotaro Minagawa said the company would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

The Nikkei said the shares are likely to go to Mazda's main creditor Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., as well as trading house Sumitomo Corp. and other Sumitomo group firms.

Once the sale is completed Ford would be no longer be Mazda's top shareholder, it said.

The Wall Street Journal reported Ford's chief financial officer said the US and Japanese automakers would continue to work together but intend to compete separately in China, the world's largest car market.

Lewis Booth, Ford's executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a recent interview with the paper that Ford has "had a 30-something-year history of working with Mazda and it's going to continue".

But Booth confirmed that Ford was seeking to dissolve its three-way venture in China between Ford, Mazda and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., with Mazda and Ford instead having two separate tie-ups with the Chinese company.

"We work on projects that make sense to the two of us and if they don't make sense to the two of us, we don't work on them," Booth reportedly said of Ford's relationship with Mazda.

"With the growth in China and the investment that each of us are going to make in China, we decided to split the joint venture."

Ford became Mazda's top shareholder in 1979 as it purchased 25 percent of its outstanding shares. It raised the stake to 33.4 percent in 1996 to gain management control over the struggling Japanese company.

Ford has since reduced its stake to 11 percent due to the US carmaker's need to raise badly needed cash during the recession and due to Mazda's issuance of new shares.

US and Japanese automakers started alliances in the 1970s but many of them have recently been unwound.

General Motors, in the face of heavy losses, has sold its stakes in Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors, car maker Suzuki and Subaru vehicles maker Fuji Heavy Industries. Suzuki is now allied with Volkswagen of Germany.

Toyota Motor has closed a plant in California that it jointly owned with GM.

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VietinBank sells 10% stake to IFC

HCMC – Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, or VietinBank, on Sunday evening inked a cooperation deal with International Finance Corporation (IFC) including the sale of a 10% stake to the foreign institution at the value of US$190 million.

Pham Huy Hung, chairman of VietinBank, confirmed the information above with the Daily via the phone on Sunday.

In addition, the deal also includes a loan worth US$110 million from IFC to VietinBank with a term of ten years and interest rate equivalent to the Libor rate plus 1.5 percentage points a year, said Hung. After the stake transfer, the chartered capital of VietinBank will increase to VND21 trillion, or some US$1.05 billion, he added.

As of late June, the bank got approval from the State Securities Commission to issue 392 million shares, including 76.9 million shares to pay dividend existing shareholders and 315.1 million shares sold to shareholders.

Hung also told the Daily that by the end of this year, VietinBank will also sell another 15% stake to Canada-based Bank of Nova Scotia, bringing its chartered capital to about VND26 trillion.

VietinBank is the second State-owned bank of Vietnam going public after Vietcombank. It completed the initial public offering in July last year and then listed on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange under the code of CTG. The bank shares were traded at VND18,700 each last Friday, compared to VND40,100 each on the first trading day on July 16 last year.

In the first half of this year, VietinBank obtained nearly VND2.2 trillion in pre-tax profits.

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VietinBank sells 10% stake to IFC

HCMC – Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, or VietinBank, on Sunday evening inked a cooperation deal with International Finance Corporation (IFC) including the sale of a 10% stake to the foreign institution at the value of US$190 million.

Pham Huy Hung, chairman of VietinBank, confirmed the information above with the Daily via the phone on Sunday.

In addition, the deal also includes a loan worth US$110 million from IFC to VietinBank with a term of ten years and interest rate equivalent to the Libor rate plus 1.5 percentage points a year, said Hung. After the stake transfer, the chartered capital of VietinBank will increase to VND21 trillion, or some US$1.05 billion, he added.

As of late June, the bank got approval from the State Securities Commission to issue 392 million shares, including 76.9 million shares to pay dividend existing shareholders and 315.1 million shares sold to shareholders.

Hung also told the Daily that by the end of this year, VietinBank will also sell another 15% stake to Canada-based Bank of Nova Scotia, bringing its chartered capital to about VND26 trillion.

VietinBank is the second State-owned bank of Vietnam going public after Vietcombank. It completed the initial public offering in July last year and then listed on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange under the code of CTG. The bank shares were traded at VND18,700 each last Friday, compared to VND40,100 each on the first trading day on July 16 last year.

In the first half of this year, VietinBank obtained nearly VND2.2 trillion in pre-tax profits.

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Australian bank seeks 20 percent stake in VIB

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will seek approval to increase its
stake in Vietnam International Bank (VIB) to 20 percent, according to a
CBA statement quoted by Dow Jones on Sept. 14.

"Consistent
with the strategic partnership agreement signed earlier this year,
Commonwealth Bank intends to request an increase in the VIB investment
to 20 percent at the earliest opportunity – the maximum investment
allowed by the State Bank of Vietnam ," said the statement.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

VIB did to give any comment on the statement but confirmed that all
procedures had been finalised to sell a 15-percent of stake to CBA under
a strategic partnership agreement announced last April.

CBA's acquisition of a 15-percent interest added 600 billion VND (30.8
million USD ) to VIB's charter capital, bringing the total to 4 trillion
VND (205.2 million USD). VIB's assets have also increased by an annual
average of 40 percent over the past five years.

CBA is the
exclusive foreign strategic shareholder of the Hanoi-based bank and was
expected to help VIB improve its performance in such critical business
areas as retail banking, risk management, human resources, IT, and
finance.

Commonwealth Bank has quietly been enlarging its
footprint in Asia over the past decade. It is now one of the leading
international banks operating in Indonesia , and it also has
investments and partnerships in two Chinese banks – Qilu Bank in Jinan
and the Bank of Hangzhou ./.

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Aussie bank seeks 20% stake in VIB

HA NOI — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will seek approval to increase its stake in Viet Nam International Bank (VIB) to 20 per cent, according to a CBA statement quoted by Dow Jones on Tuesday.

"Consistent with the strategic partnership agreement signed earlier this year, Commonwealth Bank intends to request an increase in the VIB investment to 20 per cent at the earliest opportunity – the maximum investment allowed by the State Bank of Viet Nam," said the statement.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

VIB yesterday refused to give any comment on the statement but confirmed that all procedures had been finalised to sell a 15-per-cent of stake to CBA under a strategic partnership agreement announced last April.

CBA's acquisition of a 15-per-cent interest added VND600 billion (US$30.8 million) to VIB's charter capital, bringing the total to VND4 trillion ($205.2 million). VIB's assets have also increased by an annual average of 40 per cent over the past five years.

CBA is the exclusive foreign strategic shareholder of the Ha Noi-based bank and was expected to help VIB improve its performance in such critical business areas as retail banking, risk management, human resources, IT, and finance.

Commonwealth Bank has quietly been enlarging its footprint in Asia over the past decade. It is now one of the leading international banks operating in Indonesia, and it also has investments and partnerships in two Chinese banks – Qilu Bank in Jinan and the Bank of Hangzhou. — VNS

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ONGC to finalize BP Vietnam asset valuation in few weeks

Photo: AFP

MUMBAI - Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp will make a joint bid with PetroVietnam for BP's Vietnam assets after completing its evaluation of them in the next few weeks, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan told reporters on Saturday.

"They are making an evaluation of the value of BP's assets, and once that is finalized they will make an offer in conjunction with PetroVietnam," Sundareshan said.

ONGC has a 45 percent share in Block 6.1 in the Nam Con Son basin, off Vietnam's southeast coast, operated by BP, which has a 35 percent stake. The remaining 20 percent is owned by state-run PetroVietnam.

Sundareshan said the valuation process is likely to be completed in a few weeks.

The stake would be a welcome acquisition for India, which has been lagging China in the hunt for natural resources as both countries seek to feed their fast economic growth.

UBS analysts have said BP's stake, which includes an interest in the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields, the Nam Con Son pipeline and the Phu My power generation project, is worth $966 million.

No decision on Cairn-Vedanta deal

Sundareshan also said the government had yet to decide on whether to allow Vedanta Resources to buy a majority stake in the Indian unit of Cairn Energy.

Last month, India-focused miner Vedanta said it had agreed to spend up to $9.6 billion to buy a majority stake in Cairn India from UK-based Cairn Energy.

The deal needs Indian government approval because Cairn India has production-sharing contracts with the government for oil and gas exploration blocks. According to the agreement, any ownership change will need federal approval.

"We have written to them saying they should seek these approvals and so far there has been no response. As soon as the requests come...they will be examined on merit and a decision will be taken," Sundareshan said on Saturday.

He also said India was planning a policy by which gas in the country would be uniformly priced.

"Maybe in the course of the next year we would move to a situation where there could be a pool pricing of gas irrespective of the source, international or domestic, and gas could be uniformly priced."

A policy to provide fuel at a similar price across the country could firm up in the next 8-9 months, he added.

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