Unipetrol is interested in buying a 16.3% stake in the Czech refinery Ceska rafinerska (CRC) from co-owner US-based ConocoPhillips, Unipetrol said Tuesday. Unipetrol owns a 51% stake in CRC and, along with other shareholders, including Shell Oversees Investment and Eni International, has the right of first refusal on Conoco's stake. Conoco, however, could then in turn sell on the stake and has indicated that Russian oil giant Lukoil, in which Conoco owns a 19% stake, could be a possible buyer.
Our view: It is a good opportunity for Unipetrol to expand its refining capacity however price of the stake belonging to ConocoPhillips is an issue. Due to the strong business relationships between Lukoil and Conoco it may happen that the stake will be intentionally overpriced in order to lock Unipetrol out of the deal. We could expect some negative stance from the political side to the possible CRaf stake acquisition by Lukoil, however it is not clear what legal means are there to prohibit the takeover. We expect the neutral reaction from the market.