Royal Dutch Shell will buy Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd’s (BPCL) 49 per cent stake in lubricant marketing firm Bharat Shell Ltd (BSL) for Rs 145.80 crore.
BPCL plans to exit the JV company floated in 1993 to market Shell branded lubricants in India, as it has developed a competing product. Official sources said the Petroleum Ministry has moved a Cabinet note for sale of BPCL’s 49 per cent stake in BSL to Shell.
Shell holds 51 per cent stake in BSL. Besides paying BPCL Rs 145.8 crore in cash, Shell will also takeover the state-run firm’s 49 per cent of BSL’s debt amounting to Rs 31.2 crore as on March 31, 2006. After the acquisition, Shell would remove ‘Bharat’ from Bharat Shell Ltd. Shell currently has operational control of BSL.
BSL incurred losses till financial year 2001-02 but after hiving off its loss-making LPG business, it showed signs of turnaround and posted a net profit of Rs 12.12 crore in 2006-07.
