FACTBOX-RBS Sempra Commodities arm on the selling block

NEW YORK Dec 9 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and Sempra Energy (SRE.N) have tapped investment bank Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) to help them sell their commodities trading joint venture, RBS Sempra Commodities, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters on Wednesday. [ID:nNGEE5B815]

The Stamford, Connecticut-based firm trades commodities ranging from oil and natural gas to metals and agricultural products. The firm is controlled by RBS, which bought a 51 percent stake from Sempra Energy for $1.7 billion last year, while San Diego-based Sempra Energy holds 49 percent.

Sempra holds an option to reacquire the RBS stake, and has not publicly confirmed whether it seeks to sell.

RBS and Sempra may seek more than $3 billion for the profitable firm, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the sale process.

RBS has been ordered to sell its stake as part of a restructuring program, after the bank required a bailout from the U.K. government.

Following is a fact-box on RBS Sempra's activities:

* RBS Sempra Commodities, with more than 1,000 employees across Europe, Asia and the Americas, is a major global trader in natural gas, oil, power and metals. It ranks among the largest players in open outcry trading on the London Metals Exchange, and trades precious metals, base metals and steel, as well as a range of other commodities.

* Before RBS bought a controlling stake in the commodities trader, it was owned by Sempra, a San Diego-based utility with nearly $11 billion in revenue last year.

* The trading firm had earnings of $75 million in the third quarter, reversing a rare loss of $8 million in the same quarter of 2008, according to a company website. It cited strong results from natural gas marketing. In the first three quarters of 2009, RBS Sempra earned $274 million, up from $181 million last year.

* In 2006 the commodities trader reported it had been profitable for 32 consecutive quarters. U.S. oil traders say the firm ranks among the more successful oil and gas trading houses, typically trading both physical and paper contracts, and sometimes trading directly with the U.S. Mineral Management Services.

PERSONNEL AND SALE PRECEDENT:

* RBS Sempra has recently lost some of its commodities specialists to rival companies, including Noble Group (NOBG.SI).

* Ten traders, most of them specializing in natural gas, left for competing firms during the third quarter, according to reports compiled by commodities industry job headhunters. Headhunters said RBS hired around 5 specialists or traders from competitors over the period.

* RBS Sempra isn't the first bank-controlled commodities trader to hit the selling block following a spate of government bank bailouts. In October, Citigroup Inc (C.N) agreed to sell its Phibro commodities trading arm to Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) for an undisclosed sum.

* Phibro's head oil trader, Andrew Hall, helped propel Phibro to profitability every year this decade, but Hall's $100 million salary and Phibro's high-risk trading strategies helped prompt the sale by Citi, which is now one-third owned by taxpayers. (Reporting by Joshua Schneyer, Barani Krishnan and Scott Di Savino; Editing by Walter Bagley)