We could not find any results for:
Make sure your spelling is correct or try broadening your search.
Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Goldman Sachs Group Inc | NYSE:GS | NYSE | Common Stock |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-1.91 | -0.44% | 428.90 | 431.39 | 426.00 | 428.50 | 630,949 | 16:35:27 |
By Justin Baer And Alexander Kolyandr
MOSCOW-- Morgan Stanley declared its deal to sell an oil-trading and storage business to Russia's OAO Rosneft dead, leaving the Wall Street firm on the lookout for a new buyer of the division.
Morgan Stanley and Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, said Monday the two sides had terminated their contract after they failed to win U.S. clearance on the deal amid deepening tensions over Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
The agreement won't proceed "due to an objective impossibility to complete the deal that has arisen as a result of regulatory clearances being refused," the companies said in a statement.
A Morgan Stanley spokesman said the firm would "now consider a variety of options for the unit that take into account the interests of the Firm's shareholders, clients and employees."
Morgan Stanley had sought a buyer for the business amid pressure from U.S. regulators to shed physical commodities assets that might pose risks to Wall Street firms and the markets. Other banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had also moved to shed certain corners of their commodities-trading arms.
State-controlled Rosneft emerged as a willing bidder, and reached an agreement with Morgan Stanley in December 2013. The two companies then set to work to win the necessary regulatory approvals, including one from a confidential U.S. committee that vets security risks. They told investors they expected to complete the transaction in the second half of 2014.
Morgan Stanley had sought to head off Washington's concerns about the transaction by running a separate sale process for its TransMontaigne unit, which owns oil-storage facilities and pipelines on U.S. soil, people familiar with the matter have said. The Wall Street firm sold its interests in TransMontaigne, as well as related inventory, to NGL Energy Partners.
In the meantime, though, the situation in Ukraine deteriorated. In April, U.S. officials added Rosneft President Igor Sechin to a sanctions list that restricts travel and freezes assets. And as the U.S. escalated its response to Russia's push in Ukraine, Morgan Stanley executives turned more pessimistic that their agreement would win regulatory approval, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier.
Those relations frayed further in August, when Russia was accused of providing aid and artillery to Ukrainian rebels. The standoff has provoked other would-be buyers of Morgan Stanley's trading and storage assets to ask about the business's availability, people familiar with the matter have said.
In October , Morgan Stanley acknowledged publicly that the deal with Rosneft might never close. At that point, though, the two companies still had a contract, and Rosneft indicated it wouldn't agree to break the deal before it expired in late December, the people said. That agreement meant Morgan Stanley couldn't begin talks with other potential buyers.
"Having invested substantial efforts in the deal, the parties regret that it could not be completed," the companies said Monday.
Rosneft has been hit by the Western sanctions and is facing restrictions to acquire certain technologies and raise capital in the West.
Morgan Stanley has said it would continue to operate the business, which includes an inventory of oil and a 49% stake in tanker operator Heidmar Holdings LLC. The firm had reached retention agreements with employees slated to be transferred to Rosneft following the sale, guaranteeing some of their pay, people familiar with the matter have said.
Morgan Stanley had agreed to sell the assets to Rosneft for several hundred millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year. In its statement announcing the deal, the firm said the transaction wasn't "material."
Morgan Stanley has maintained one of Wall Street's biggest commodities-trading businesses for decades. Since the financial crisis, though, the division has been shrinking. The firm told a Senate subcommittee last year that annual revenue had dropped to $912 million in 2012 from $3 billion in 2008.
Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com and Alexander Kolyandr at Alexander.Kolyandr@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Rosneft
Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=RU000A0J2Q06
Access Investor Kit for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US38141G1040
Access Investor Kit for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US46625H1005
Access Investor Kit for Morgan Stanley
Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US6174464486
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
1 Year Goldman Sachs Chart |
1 Month Goldman Sachs Chart |
It looks like you are not logged in. Click the button below to log in and keep track of your recent history.
Support: +44 (0) 203 8794 460 | support@advfn.com
By accessing the services available at ADVFN you are agreeing to be bound by ADVFN's Terms & Conditions