Shares of Castrol India Ltd increased 6% on May 29 after Bloomberg reported that BP Plc’s Castrol lubricant business is attracting interest from energy companies including Reliance Industries Ltd. and buyout firms such as Apollo Global Management Inc. and Lone Star Funds.
The report added that a deal could fetch between $8 billion and $10 billion.
At 1:45 pm on May 29, Castrol India shares were trading 6% higher at Rs 219 apiece. The 52-week high of the stock is Rs 284.4 and 52-week low is Rs 162.6 apiece. The market capitalisation of the stock is Rs 21,600 crore.
BP has sent out initial information to other potential bidders for the unit, including Brookfield Asset Management and Stonepeak Partners, the report added.
The bidders would join Saudi Aramco in considering bids for all or part of the business.
As part of a major corporate revamp, BP started a strategic review of the Castrol-branded business. Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has emerged as one of the company’s largest shareholders and has been pressing management to make bolder changes.
In February, BP said it is looking at strategic review of its global lubricants business.
"Castrol is a leading and trusted global lubricants brand, marketing premium products in more than 150 countries and serving customers and consumers in the automotive, marine, industrial and energy sectors. Castrol has significant growth ambitions, including growing its core mobility businesses, expanding participation in industrial lubricants, enhancing its mobility services and diversifying into data centre fluids," said BP.
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