Yukos Office Auction Raises $3.9Bln
Published May 14th, 2007
A mystery firm called Prana bid $3.9 billion to beat Rosneft in a fiercely fought auction on Friday for assets of bankrupt oil firm Yukos, including its head office.
The price was far higher than expected, and Prana’s backers are as yet unknown.
The lot also included Yukos’ other Moscow property and a trading unit that several sources said might have access to oil inventories or cash. Otherwise, the price would make the firm’s headquarters one of the most expensive buildings in the world.
Rosneft has snapped up most of Yukos’ assets so far, and it was widely thought to covet lot No. 13 since capturing Yukos’ Moscow headquarters would crown a string of victories in the series of auctions held to pay off Yukos’ $26 billion in debts.
But after 707 bids and counterbids, the price topped 100 billion rubles ($3.9 billion) — 4 1/2 times the 22.1 billion ruble starting price — and Rosneft threw in the towel.
“I don’t think anyone would have expected the price to go up so quickly and such a big battle to break out,” said Nikolai Lashkevich, a spokesman for Yukos’ bankruptcy receiver. “We just hope that the winner of the auction will be able to meet the obligations it has taken on.”
Representatives from Prana declined to comment after the auction, which took almost three hours. During the auction, the organizers declared three breaks to give the bidders a rest.
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