Russia TNK-BP Holding offers buyout ahead of IPO

A police officer walks past a plaque of the oil firm TNK-BP at its headquarters in Moscow June 11, 2008.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's TNK-BP Holding TNBPI.RTS, a listed subsidiary of BP's (BP.L) TNK-BP joint venture with Russian billionaires, offered on Friday a buyout to minority shareholders as it prepares for a bigger share float.

BP and its Russian and Russia-connected partners signed on Thursday a memorandum ending months of open disputes over the firm's management and development strategy.

The two sides agreed to reshuffle TNK-BP's management and proceed with an initial public offering of up to 20 percent of a new firm, which will combine TNK-BP Holding with some other assets, including oil venture Slavneft.

On Friday, TNK-BP Holding said in a statement in Rossiiskaya Gazeta it would buy out shares of any holders who voted against merging TNK-BP Holding with companies such as Sborsare Management, Sidanco Investments, Sidanco Neftepererabotka and Sidanco Securities.

A TNK-BP official told Reuters those companies controlled shares in Slavneft and other assets to be merged with TNK-BP Holding. The buyout offer was set at 48.94 rouble for one ordinary and one preferred share.

TNK-BP's ordinary stock rose 2.6 percent on the news, while preferred shares TNBPI_p.RTS jumped 26 percent in illiquid trade. TNK-BP Holding's free float is less than 5 percent.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, editing by Will Waterman)