MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/: The deal of German company BASF and LetterOne owned by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman on the merger of their oil and gas assets, Wintershall and Dea, was closed on May 1, the companies said in a statement.
The merger was endorsed by all relevant authorities and shareholders, Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of the new company Mario Mehren said.
The united company has assets in Europe, Russia, Latin America and Africa. Its production totals 590,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and joint hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 2.4 bln barrels. Wintershall Dea is now the leading independent gas and oil company in Europe, according to the statement.
BASF and LetterOne are planning to offer shares in Wintershall Dea through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the second half of 2020.
In late 2017, BASF, which owns Wintershall, and Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne announced intention to combine their oil and gas assets. According to the plan, at the initial stage, BASF and LetterOne will hold 67% and 33% in the united company respectively.
LetterOne bought Germany’s Dea oil and gas company in 2015, and BASF was among the contenders. Now Dea has 128 licenses in eight countries, and its production reached 50 mln BOE in 2016. In October 2017, Norway’s branch of E.ON. joined this asset.
Germany’s Wintershall is a 100% subsidiary of BASF. The company is Gazprom’s partner in building the Nord Stream 2 project. Wintershall has shares in Gazprom’s joint ventures in Russia: the development of the Achimovsk deposit, part of Urengoi field, and the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field.
