Russian firm to take stake in BP

State-owned Russian oil giant Rosneft has taken a 5 per cent stake in BP, in the first major deal for BP since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, as Siobhan Kennedy writes.

Link to the article: Channel 4 News



Earlier in the day, the oil giant BP confirmed it was in discussions with Rosneft regarding a "possible arrangement".

But underscoring the deal's significance, the company's chief executive Bob Dubley held a press conference at BP's headquarters in London at 9pm on Friday to announce the deal.

The deal basically involves the two companies swapping shares in each other. Rosneft will now have a 5 per cent stake in BP, which it has swapped for approximately 9.5 per cent of Rosneft's shares. The aggregate value of the shares in BP to be issued to Rosneft is approximately $7.8bn.