BPCL to sell 49% stake in Bharat Shell

Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., India’s third biggest state-run refiner said in February it will sell its 49% stake in Bharat Shell Ltd. to partner Shell Overseas Investment BV, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. “Both the parties recognize the success of their joint venture but believe that the time is right to seek to each focus on their own specific lubricants brands, building these independently in India, which is an important lubricants growth market,” the Shell press release said. Neither Shell nor BPCL indicated the sale price. Bharat Shell was incorporated in 1993 for marketing Shell-branded lubricants in the country. The joint venture had an authorized capital of Rs250 crore (US$56.70 million) and a paid-up capital of Rs200 crore (US$45.36 million). The joint venture holds an 8% share in the one-million-ton lubricant market in India. (February 21, 2007)