Chelsea owner sells oil giant for €10.79bn

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich today agreed to sell Russian oil company Sibneft for £7.36bn (€10.79bn).

Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas producer, will purchase 72.7% of Sibneft, taking its stake in the company to more than 75%.

An agreement was signed today between Gazprom and Sibneft’s owner, Millhouse Capital, a holding company controlled by Abramovich, 38.

The purchase by Gazprom, which has been under state control since June, is the biggest in Russian corporate history.

It significantly boosts Gazprom’s stature in the oil sector and President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to recapture Kremlin influence in the lucrative energy industry.

Gazprom, which already owns 3% of Sibneft, Russia’s fifth largest oil company, has long been groomed as a state energy giant to rival Saudi Arabia’s Aramco.

Western banks were reported to be ready to offer a £6.79bn (€9.95bn) loan to fund the deal – the largest such loan in Russia’s post-Soviet history.

Gazprom shares gained 1% today as Russia’s benchmark stock exchange index broke through the 1,000 point mark for the first time in its 10-year history.

Over the last three months, the Russian Trading System has risen by 45%, fuelled in part by an oil-driven boom.