Non-cash swap: Reuters has learned details of a potential deal involving Lukoil's assets

A consortium of investors led by American billionaire Todd Boeli is preparing a securities swap deal to acquire the overseas assets of Russian oil giant Lukoil, Reuters reports, citing four sources. The deal is expected to be finalized within a few weeks, the sources told the agency.

The plan involves a non-cash exchange: Lukoil’s frozen securities, held by Western investors—including the U.S. investment firm Capital Group—will be exchanged for the Russian company’s overseas assets: oil fields, refineries, and gas station networks in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Until 2022, Western investment funds were major investors in Lukoil, Reuters notes. The shares were later removed from major emerging-market indices and subsequently frozen and written off by Western funds.

According to two of the agency’s sources, a bank acting on behalf of the consortium has already purchased billions of dollars’ worth of securities from approximately ten U.S. and British investment funds, as well as from U.S. custodian banks that held them on behalf of retail investors. The transactions took place at 30 cents on the dollar—at a deep discount due to sanctions.

If the deal goes through, the process of selling Lukoil’s assets—which has been dragging on for about a year—will be completed. Lukoil’s portfolio of overseas assets, which fell under U.S. sanctions, was initially valued at $22 billion. Since then, its value has declined because some of the assets have ceased operations, two sources noted.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Lukoil in October 2025, forcing the company to put its overseas portfolio up for sale. More than a dozen buyers expressed interest in the assets, including oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the Carlyle investment fund, and former Pornhub owner Bernd Bergmeier.

In January, the American investment group Carlyle reached a preliminary agreement to purchase a major stake in these assets. However, approval of the deal was delayed, and Carlyle withdrew from the race, leaving the Boeli consortium as the leading contender.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury insists that Lukoil should not receive any windfall profits from the deal in the form of shares or cash. According to two sources, the consortium’s position was strengthened by its promise to place the shares in an escrow account as part of the deal, rather than transferring them directly to Lukoil. The U.S. Department of the Treasury did not respond to requests for comment.

In addition to Boeli—co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers sports clubs — the consortium includes Emirati investors International Holding Company and Al Hail Holding, Syrian-born entrepreneurs from Qatar, Mutaz and Ramez Al-Hayat, as well as the U.S. government-owned International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Representatives of Boeli did not respond to inquiries from Reuters. A spokesperson for IHC stated that the company does not comment on potential investments. Al Hail, a company owned by the Al-Hayyat brothers, DFC, and Lukoil, also did not respond to the agency’s inquiries. Capital Group declined to comment.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor