Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 18
Vedanta Group on Wednesday confirmed that it would be suitors for the state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), which the government plans to privatise.
The company will be putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government’s stake in the BPCL.
“Vedanta’s EoI for BPCL is to evaluate potential synergies with our existing oil and gas business,” the company spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “The EoI is at a preliminary stage and exploratory in nature,” it added.
The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL and last date of putting EoI was November 16. The government had at the close of bidding stated that “multiple” EoIs had been received. It, however, did not reveal the identity of the bidders.
Vedanta’s interest in India’s second largest fuel retailer is because of synergies with its existing oil and gas business. The company had focused on the metals space, expanded into energy through the acquisition of Cairn, a major contributor to the country’s crude oil production.
