3rd UPDATE:
AAR Looks At Whether Rosneft Deal Violates TNK-BP Pact
(Adds BP comment.)
By Benoit FAUCON and Rhiannon HOYLE
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES:
"LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Alfa-Access-Renova, BP PLC's (BP.LN) Russian partner in TNK-BP (TNBP.RS), is looking at whether the British company broke their shareholder's pact by signing a deal with OAO Rosneft, the Russian partner said Sunday.
A TNK-BP official said AAR was looking at possible involvement of TNK-BP in the Rosneft-BP deal.
Stan POLOVETS, Chief Executive of AAR--the Russian vehicle which owns 50% in TNK-BP--said AAR's legal team is studying the announced transaction to ensure that it adheres to the exclusivity provision of the TNK-BP Shareholder Agreement.
The provision requires AAR and BP to pursue new opportunities in Russia exclusively through TNK-BP, unless one of the partners rejects the proposed new opportunity.
POLOVETS said this means BP may need its Russian partners' approval to complete the ROSNEFT deal. He declined to speculate on what actions AAR may take if it concludes that BP has violated the TNK-BP Shareholder Agreement.
But London-based BP spokesman Toby ODONE said TNK-BP officials had been "kept in the loop" about the decision, and that BP Chief Executive Bob DUDLEY had met with [TNK-BP Executive Chairman] Mikhail FRIDMAN Thursday before the deal was announced.
"They are our partners, so obviously we talk to them all the time, and we kept them in the loop about our decision," he said"...
SOURCE / LINK / QUELLE dieses Ausschnitts:
news.morningstar.com/newsnet/...OWJONESDJONLINE000195_univ.xml