Investing in EOL, which operates one of the world's most complex refineries and runs India's largest private sector retail network, gives the new stakeholders a strong foothold in the Indian market that will witness robust demand growth for petroleum products in the long term. The growth for refined petroleum products in the Indian market for the next five years is expected to be in the 5%-7% range.
EOL's value has also been strengthened by the integrated nature of its business and the strategic positioning of its assets. Its 20 million tonne oil refinery in Vadinar, which accounts for 9% of India's total refining output, is supported by a 1,010 MW captive power plant, and complemented by a network of around 2,700 operating retail outlets. The additional Rs 13,300 crore that the new stakeholders have agreed to pay is for the 58 million tonne deep draft port in Vadinar that helps in importing crude and exporting finished products.
Rosneft Oil Company is the world's largest petroleum company with revenues in excess of $80 billion. The Company's main business activities include exploration & production, refining and product marketing in Russia and across countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Trafigura Group is one of the world's leading independent commodity trading and logistics group of companies with revenues of approximately $100 billion. United Capital Partners (UCP) is a large independent Russian private investment group with investments of over $3.5 billion in various industrial sectors.
The Transaction is the single largest tranche of foreign direct investment in India, and re-establishes the image of India as an attractive destination for foreign investments. Earlier in 2007, Essar Group, together with Hutchison Whampoa, brought Vodafone into India through an $11.1-billion transaction. With the current Transaction, this is the second instance that Essar has brought in world leaders in the sector to participate in the India growth story.
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