Gunvor emerges as suiter for Lukoil's foreign empire, but on paper this looks far beyond the Swiss trader's borrowing capacity, bankers and insiders say.
Lukoil launched the sale of foreign assets on October 27 after coming under fresh U.S. and UK sanctions. Three days later it entered talks to sell to Gunvor.
The Russian company is three times bigger than Gunvor if measured by equity. Its foreign assets include refineries in Europe, shares in oilfields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico, plus a wealth of retail fuel stations around the world.
Vienna-based owner Lukoil International GmbH had equity of $22 billion, its 2024 financial report showed, with $18.8 billion worth of fixed assets such as real estate and equipment and $3.2 billion in cash.
Gunvor, meanwhile, reported equity of $6.8 billion in 2024. Like most trading houses, Gunvor has a light portfolio of fixed assets and a lot of cash after generating billions of dollars in volatile oil and gas markets over recent years. Both companies declined to comment for this story.
Full story Too big to swallow? Lukoil empire no simple acquisition for Gunvor | Reuters
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