BP board backs $27 billion sale of TNK-BP stake to Rosneft: FT

BP logo is seen at a fuel station of British oil company BP in St. Petersburg, October 18, 2012.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The board of BP (BP.L) gave "strong support" to a deal that would sell its stake in TNK-BP (TNBP.MM) to Russian state oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) in a transaction worth $27 billion, The Financial Times reported on its website on Sunday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The source said under the deal, BP would sell its 50 percent stake in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company, for a combination of cash and shares.

The source also said BP will receive $11 billion to $13 billion in cash and a stake of between 15 percent and 20 percent in Rosneft, valued at $11 billion to $14.7 billion, based on Rosneft's $73.4 billion market capitalization. That would leave BP as the second-largest shareholder in Rosneft after the Russian government.

BP would also receive the roughly 12.5 percent of Rosneft shares that the company holds in treasury, including some Russian government shares held in a state investment vehicle, Rosneftegaz, the FT reported.

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)