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Market Chatter: US Government to Support Boehly's Bid for Lukoil Foreign Assets

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The US government and influential individuals linked to the family of US President Donald Trump have given their support to billionaire Todd Boehly in his bid for the international assets of Russia's Lukoil, put on sale after it was placed under US sanctions last year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Boehly has been working on the potential acquisition for several months, the newspaper said, citing two people close to the sale procedure, and he aims to displace rival bidder Carlyle, a US private equity group, which had agreed to buy Lukoil's foreign assets in January, the article said.

Boehly counts within his consortium the US International Development Finance Corp. and the brother of the president of the UAE, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Another backer is the billionaire Al-Khayyat family that has worked with both the White House and Trump family on real estate and energy projects.

The DFC, a federal governmental entity, would likely take a percentage stake in the mid-teens, two sources with knowledge of their plans said. Other sources said the Boehly group has not yet reached a deal with Lukoil and the progress they have made so far is unknown.

Neither Lukoil nor the US White House immediately replied to' request for comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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