The Russian AAR consortium (Alfa Group, Access and Renova) may sell its stake in Russian-British oil venture TNK-BP to Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Friday.
A deal could take the form of a swap of TNK-BP shares for shares in Rosneft, either wholly or partly in cash, Vedomosti says, citing a source close to TNK-BP, Rosneft and the Russian government.
Rosneft could buy a 50% stake in the venture from AAR, and buy a 1% stake in it from BP, to gain a 51% controlling stake.
Earlier this week, AAR shareholders took out a court injunction in London to block Rosneft and BP's $16 billion share swap deal, which was announced in January, until February 25. They claimed it was in contravention of BP's tie-up with TNK in TNK-BP, and would be detrimental to their interests.
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti)
