Russia's largest privately owned oil company LUKoil and a group of investors led by UniCredit Bank have bought 42.5 million shares under a buy back option program from U.S. major CopnocoPhilips, LUKoil said on Sunday.
Conoco announced in summer that it would sell its entire 20 percent stake in LUKoil. Until now, LUKoil already bought 7.6 percent of the stake for $3.442 billion and had an option to buy another 11.6 percent or 98.728 million shares represented by American Depositary Receipts on September 26.
The shares were bought back at the price of $56 per share, bringing the sum of the transaction to about $2.4 billion.
Under an agreement between the parties, if LUKoil fails to buy back the entire amount of shares under the option program, ConocoPhillips intends to sell the remaining part on the market until the end of 2011.
MOSCOW, September 26 (RIA Novosti)
