Reuters: Mergers News: TNK-BP ownership shakeup possible - Fridman

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TNK-BP ownership shakeup possible - Fridman May 31st 2012, 05:45 MOSCOW | Thu May 31, 2012 1:45am EDT MOSCOW May 31 (Reuters) - TNK-BP, British oil major BP's Russian joint venture that is at the centre of a shareholder dispute, may get a third investor, co-owner and former CEO Mikhail Fridman was quoted on Thursday as saying. Fridman, one of the four Soviet-born tycoons who share control of the 50-50 joint venture via the AAR consortium, quit as chief executive on Monday, deepening a leadership crisis that has deprived the company of a functioning board. "Everything is possible and realistic. We are open to proposals," Fridman told the Kommersant business daily in an interview. "There are no concrete offers, but it (TNK-BP) may be interesting to many." Fridman dismissed suggestions that his resignation on Monday as CEO was related to the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin as CEO of state oil firm Rosneft following Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency. BP and AAR have been at loggerheads since BP sought to reach an offshore exploration and $16 billion share-swap deal with Rosneft last year. AAR won a court order to block the deal, and last May refused a $32 billion buyout offer for its one-half interest in TNK-BP from Rosneft and BP. Responding to reports that Rosneft's interest in TNK-BP had revived, Fridman called the idea of a merger between the two "fantasy". He said TNK-BP's the current shareholder structure "no longer serves the interests of each party", adding that only one - BP or AAR - should control Russia's No.3 crude producer. "There are a lot of different options. For example, BP becomes a minority shareholder and gradually leaves TNK-BP's capital ... We would also consider cutting our stake if part of it is to be converted into BP shares," Fridman said. He added that this process could take between five and seven years. BP has recouped its initial $7 billion investment in TNK-BP from 2003 many times over, but it has had a series of clashes with its local shareholders over corporate governance. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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