Essar Oil delists in $564 mln payout to shareholders | Reuters

MUMBAI Essar Oil, India’s second biggest private refiner, said on Wednesday it had completed delisting from local bourses in return for a 37.45 billion rupee ($563.94 million) payout to minority shareholders.

Essar Oil minority shareholders will get 262.80 rupees a share, representing a 2.3 percent premium to the stock’s closing price on Tuesday but an 80 percent premium to the 146.05 rupees floor price it set earlier this month.

The transaction would value Essar Oil at 380 billion rupees ($5.72 billion), Oil Bidco (Mauritius) the promoter of Essar Oil said in a statement.

Essar Group, controlled by the billionaire Ruia brothers, has secured a $330 million loan from Russian bank VTB to delist shares in Essar Oil, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.

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Obtaining the loan was an important step for Essar Oil to allow it to move closer to a deal to sell a stake to Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft. Essar wanted to delist shares of its unit before striking a final deal with Rosneft.

Essar, whose business interests include steel, oil and gas, power and ports, has been forced to consider selling some of its assets to reduce its debt pile, after expanding in India and overseas in the last few years.

Essar Oil’s stock gained 0.18 percent at 0826 GMT.

($1 = 66.3775 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Mumbai; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee)

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