Vedanta Group, led by Anil Agarwal, said on Wednesday that it has filed an expression of interest (EoI) to buy the government’s 52.98 percent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).
“Vedanta’s EoI for BPCL is to assess potential synergies with our current oil and gas business. The EoI is in a preliminary stage and exploratory in nature, ”said a company spokesperson. At least three or four players have reportedly submitted EoIs for the BPCL privatization process, once the deadline ended on Monday. The sale of the BPCL stake is crucial to meet the divestment target of Rs 2.1 trillion for the current fiscal year. In addition to Vedanta, some private equity funds and / or pension funds have reportedly also put into EoI.
According to multiple sources, major players such as Reliance Industries, Saudi Aramco, Rosneft and Exxon Mobil had walked away from the bidding process, due to the current situation in the international oil and gas market due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. . The government has not released the names of the bidders or the number of players who have shown interest. “We have received multiple EoIs. We are not supposed to disclose the names and number of offers,” said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary of the Department of Investment and Management of Public Assets (DIPAM).
In November last year, the Union Cabinet authorized the sale of the entire government stake in BPCL. Following this, investors invited EOI on March 7. Based on the current market capitalization of Rs 83,125.8 crore, the value of the government stake in BPCL comes to around Rs 44,040 crore. For investors, around 35.3 million tons of refining capacity, 16,492 retail outlets and 72 million LPG customers will be offered.
The government’s plan is to sell its entire stake in BPCL comprising 1.15 billion shares, with the transfer of management control to a strategic buyer, excluding 61.65 percent of the company at the Numaligarh refinery in Assam. .
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