Russia-China Fund, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Eyeing Stake in Eurasia Drilling
The Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) and Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's state fund, are considering buying a minority stake in Eurasia Drilling Company, Russia's largest drilling company by metres drilled, three sources close to the talks told Reuters.
In 2015, Eurasia Drilling Company (EDC) delisted its shares from the London Stock Exchange after a deal for the world's leading oilfield services provider Schlumberger NV to buy a stake in it collapsed.
One of the sources said that RCIF -- which was set up by two Russian government-backed investment vehicles, the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corporation -- was looking to team up with Mubadala to buy around 13-15 percent of EDC's new shares.
EDC would use the proceeds from the potential deal, the value of which the source did not disclose, for development. Russia is the world's top oil producer, but the bulk of its fields are ageing and require new technologies.
EDC is controlled by Chief Executive Officer Alexander Djaparidze, who has a 30.2 percent stake, and his business partner Alexander Putilov, who holds a 22.4 percent stake, the latest public data, from the end of 2014, shows.
A spokeswoman for RCIF and a Mubadala spokesman declined to comment. EDC did not reply to a Reuters request seeking comment.
(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya, Katya Golubkova and Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow and Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi)
