Deal to buy Lukoil's overseas assets may take place in coming weeks

A consortium led by U.S. billionaire Todd Boehly is preparing a ​securities swap to acquire sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil's international assets and a deal is expected within weeks, Reuters reported.

A bank acting on behalf of the consortium has purchased billions of dollars of frozen Lukoil securities from Western investment funds to exchange for the company's foreign assets, according to the sources.

If completed, the transaction would conclude ​a sale process that has dragged on for more than a year and initially valued the portfolio involved at $22 billion. Lukoil's foreign ​assets include oilfields, refineries and petrol stations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The consortium includes Boehly, Emirati investors International Holding Company (IHC) and Al Hail Holding. The Syrian-Qatari Al-Khayat brothers and the US International Development Finance Corp (DFC) are also backing the bid.

The plan is for ​a cashless deal in which frozen Lukoil securities held by Western investors, including Capital Group, would be exchanged for Lukoil's international assets, the people said.