Stake sale offer to end TNK-BP wrangle

That was the position presented by Mikhail Fridman, one of the quartet of investors who own half of Russia’s third largest oil company through the AAR consortium, to meetings in New York and Boston with large institutions that own BP stock.

“The message Mikhail Fridman delivered was that the partnership in its current form has run its course,” AAR CEO Stan Polovets said. “The shareholders need to find a way to realign ownership interests and eliminate the internal contradictions that are tearing TNK-BP apart.”

No comment was available from BP.

Shareholder relations at TNK-BP, which have often been rocky since BP came in as an equal partner in 2003, broke down last year when the British group tried to reach a strategic alliance with state-controlled Russian oil major Rosneft.

AAR blocked the deal in the courts, successfully arguing that it violated an exclusivity clause in the TNK-BP shareholders’ agreement. The ensuing fallout has left the company without a board quorum, blocking dividend payments. Mr Fridman quit in May as CEO and BP put its stake up for sale at the start of June.

Under a timeline set by the shareholder pact, AAR has until the end of this week to express its interest in buying BP’s stake. BP can negotiate with other interested parties but cannot do a deal with them for a further 90 days.