Global Companies May Join The Race To Acquire BPCL

Global companies may join the race to acquire BPCL.

Global oil companies may join hands with investment funds in the race to acquire Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Billionaire businessman Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group as well as two US funds (Apollo Global and I Squared Capital) last year made initial bids to buy the government’s entire 52.98 percent stake in India’s third-largest oil refiner and second-largest fuel retailer. The bid was submitted.

The brief note on BPCL disinvestment as part of the next phase of the deal states that the transaction advisor and asset valuer will have to submit an establishment report.

The bidder will have to meet the company’s requirements and finalize the sell-purchase agreement.

Further, since the consortium is being formed, a security clearance may be required from the bidders, the report said, without giving further details.

Companies that have filed Expression of Interest (EoI) for acquisition are allowed to form a consortium with any one of the bidders.

Indian billionaire tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani as well as global oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Exxon have not submitted expressions of interest to acquire BPCL by the November 16, 2020 deadline.

Although several top oil producers in the Middle East and Russia’s Rosneft were said to be interested in BPCL, they did not submit any bids.

Industry sources said it is possible that a major global oil sector or oil producer in the Middle East may be working closely with investment funds already in the race.

Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd and Adani Group are unlikely to join the race, a source said.

Indian auto companies to end dependence on China, increase exports auto parts manufacturers.

Indian automobile companies still depend on China for many parts. The country’s auto companies are also facing the impact of semiconductor manufacturing in China.

In such a situation, Indian companies making auto parts will have to work fast on the plan to start manufacturing all types of auto parts in India itself.

This suggestion was made by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant during the annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (Ecma) on Thursday.

He clearly said that our policy should be such that our dependence on China is reduced.

This was the second major conference in the automobile sector in the last two days, in which policymakers and representatives of auto companies spoke directly.