Mumbai/New Delhi — India’s billionaire Ruia brothers agreed to sell a 98% stake in their refinery unit to Rosneft, Russia’s biggest listed oil producer, and a consortium of Trafigura and United Capital Partners for about $13bn. Essar Group would sell 49% of Essar Oil each to Rosneft and the consortium for an enterprise value of 728-billion rupees ($10.9bn), the Indian conglomerate said on Saturday. The equity valuation would be about $5.8bn, the price at which the company was delisted, Essar Group director Prashant Ruia told reporters at a briefing in Goa, India. The all-cash deal would help Essar, which runs steel mills and ports, cut debt by more than 50%, Ruia said. The transaction includes India’s second-largest refinery at Vadinar, and another $2bn will be paid for a port terminal and power plant that helps feed the refinery, as well as about 2,700 pumps. All approvals were expected by the end of this year and most of the proceeds would go to retire debt, Ruia said. It will be ...
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