Russia's Lebedev nets up to 64 percent in Timan Oil
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev said his bank will acquire 64 percent of mid-sized oil firm Timan Oil and Gas Plc TMAN.L in exchange for outstanding debt, and wants to find a "strong partner" to tap its oilfields.
"We gave out loans, and the shares were collateral," Lebedev told the Reuters Investment Summit in Moscow on Monday.
London-listed Timan said in June that its core owner, Alexander Kapalin, had received notice of debt default.
As a result, ownership of around 48 percent of its shares were set to pass to Redbell, an investment vehicle of Russian businessman Vitaly Belik.
Kapalin has said Belik represented National Reserve Bank, which is owned by Russian banking and industry magnate Lebedev, who also owns London's Evening Standard newspaper (DMGOa.L).
Lebedev said he had no plans to re-sell the company, which owns oilfields in the southern Russian region of Dagestan and the resource-rich Timan-Pechora region in northwest Russia.
"I'm thinking of (developing fields) with a strong partner," he said.
Lebedev did not specify when his bank expected to secure the stake of up to 64 percent in Timan.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Conor Sweeney, Dmitry Sergeyev, Guy Faulconbridge, Chris Wickham and Andrew Torchia; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Robin Paxton; Editing by Andy Bruce)
