RIL abandons Lyondell bid; no plan to sweeten offer: report
04 Mar 2010
India's Reliance Industries Ltd doesn't plan to raise its bid again to take control of Rotterdam-based petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell Industries when it exits bankruptcy, Dow Jones Newswires reported. It quoted a person close to the deal as saying market conditions didn't justify that.
It was widely reported on Tuesday that the board of LyondellBasell rejected a $14.5 billion (Rs66,830 crore) bid from RIL. The report relieved investors, who feared that RIL may sweeten its bid again, overpaying for LyondellBasell.
Reliance had sweetened its bid in February, boosting the valuation of the petrochemical maker to $14.5 billion after Lyondell rejected a previous sweetened bid that valued the company at around $13.5 billion. That offer had been increased from an initial November bid valuing Lyondell at around $12 billion.
A Reliance spokesperson declined to comment.
A deal between Reliance and Lyondell was expected to create a mammoth energy and chemicals conglomerate with nearly $80 billion in combined revenue. Lyondell is the world's third-largest chemical maker and both companies have oil-refining operations.
Reliance may now look toward other acquisitions. It is scouting for other foreign targets, including Canada's Value Creation Inc, which has large oil-sands deposits in Alberta.
Reliance, which has raised $2 billion (Rs9,218 crore) by selling treasury stocks to boost reserves for possible acquisitions, has been looking at overseas deals to diversify its business risk and expand beyond local markets.