Interfax reported yesterday that Gazprom and MOL could bid together for Udmurtneft. The Russian newswire quoted Gazprom's deputy CEO Alexander Ryazanov (CEO of Sibneft, one of the standing bidders for Udmurtneft) as saying the two firms might form a consortium to buy the upstream company jointly.
The Interfax news practically confirms last week’s rumours about a bigger deal between the two companies. Although the parties said they haven’t signed any agreement yet, the market was fairly positive on the news. Also helped by the very healthy refinery margin environment, MOL surged 5.8% yesterday, the biggest daily increase in the past four months. We reiterate our buy recommendation on the stock with our target price of HUF 27,223.