Russian oil giants 'merge'

The UK's BBC reports that:

Russian oil firms Yukos and Sibneft have completed their $45bn merger, reports say, forming what is likely to be the biggest listed company in Russia. According to Russian news agency Interfax, Yukos President Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Friday that the deal was signed off, creating a group to rival the current world number four oil firm, France's Total. Shares in both firms had soared on Thursday, and on Friday by 0732 GMT shares in Yukos were up 1.15%, with Sibneft shares adding 4.7%. as investors betted that the merger was ready to be completed, further extending the Russian stock market's recent breakneck gains.

But the sealing of the deal, which has been under discussion for some months and is effectively a takeover of Sibneft, may be overshadowed by speculation about potential foreign partners. Mr Khodorkovsky denied on Friday morning that any foreign investment was immediately on the agenda - although he was careful not to rule it out altogether. "There is no deal, but when there is a deal we will make you happy by telling you," he told reporters. "We welcome foreign investment. It lowers the cost of capital and raises the value of our assets, but you can't apply the word 'necessary' to it."

But according to both Reuters and the Financial Times, US giant - and world number one - ExxonMobil may buy as much as half the new firm.
The US company's chief executive, Lee Raymond, arrived in Moscow on Thursday night for a World Economic Forum panel, on which Mr Khodorkovsky will also sit. Another US oil giant, ChevronTexaco, has already been tipped as a YukosSibneft suitor, although it is thought to want just a quarter of the new company.

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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3160522.stm