Rosneft completes $13 billion Essar Oil deal

TheEssar Group has completed the $13 billion sale of its flagship company Essar Oil to a consortium led by Russian energy major OAO Rosneft. Rosneft, along with Russian private fund United Capital Partners (UCP) and Swiss commodity trading firm Trafigura, has bought a 98 per cent stake in Essar Oil. The new owners will acquire India’s largest network of private petrol pumps (nearly 3,000 fuel retail outlets), the country’s second-largest refinery (Vadinar) and a 1,000MW power plant along with the Vadinar port and oil terminal. After the acquisition of a 49.13 per cent stake by Rosneft and another 49.13 per cent by Trafigura and the UCP Investment Group, the new owners of Essar Oil aim to scale up the company’s petrol pump network to 6,000 outlets in India from 3,500 outlets at present.