Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 15, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe U.S. Treasury rejected Xtellus's bid for Lukoil's foreign assets, valued at $22 billion, amid ongoing sanctions. Exxon and others remain contenders.
By Jarrett Renshaw, David Gauthier-Villars and Anna Hirtenstein
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury has rejected an offer from a group led by U.S. bank Xtellus Partners for the foreign assets of Russian oil company Lukoil, three people close to the matter told Reuters.
Xtellus had been competing against U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Abu Dhabi group International Holding Company, Hungary's MOL and U.S. private equity firm Carlyle, all of which still remain in the race.
The U.S. Treasury declined to comment.
Lukoil offered to sell the assets after the U.S. imposed sanctions on it and Kremlin-controlled rival Rosneft in October to try to push Russia towards a peace deal with Ukraine.
More than a dozen companies have bid for Lukoil's assets, which are valued at about $22 billion. The assets include upstream oil and gas projects, refining and more than 2,000 filling stations across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
Xtellus had offered to organise a swap of Lukoil securities held by U.S. investors in a cashless deal to return them to Lukoil in exchange for the Russian company's global assets, sources told Reuters.
The sources said Lukoil had favoured the Xtellus bid but it was complex to execute. Xtellus is advising bid partners American billionaire Todd Boehly and Emirati investor group Allied Investment Partners.
U.S. investment funds own large holdings of Lukoil shares that were frozen and written down after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, losing the funds billions of dollars. The idea was to transfer the shares back to Lukoil in exchange for the assets, sell the assets to energy companies and pay the investors.
Last week the U.S. extended the deadline for negotiations with Lukoil to January 17.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, David Gauthier-Villars and Anna HirtensteinWriting by Dmitry ZhdannikovEditing by Tomasz Janowski and David Goodman)
Lukoil is a major Russian oil company that operates in the exploration, production, and refining of oil and gas. It is one of the largest companies in Russia and has significant assets globally.
Foreign assets refer to investments or properties owned by individuals or companies in a country other than their own. These can include stocks, bonds, real estate, and business interests.
Sanctions are penalties or restrictions imposed by countries or international organizations to influence a nation's behavior. They can include trade restrictions, asset freezes, and travel bans.
Private equity refers to investment funds that buy and restructure private companies or public companies that are taken private. These funds aim to improve the company's performance and eventually sell it for a profit.
A cashless deal is a transaction where no physical cash is exchanged. Instead, assets or securities are traded without direct monetary payment, often involving swaps or exchanges of ownership.
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