Hinduja chooses Deutsche Bank to evaluate sale of Saudi venture

A unit of India’s family-owned conglomerate Hinduja Group has hired Deutsche Bank to evaluate the potential sale of its 49% stake in a Saudi Arabian lubricants venture that is valued at up to US$700 million, according to news reports.
Jeddah-based Petromin is a joint venture between Gulf Oil International Group, a unit of Hinduja, and family-owned Dabbagh Group in Saudi Arabia. The latter owns a 51% stake in Petromin.
The two partners have had differences over strategy, prompting Hinduja to hire an advisor and consider options for exiting the stake, news reports said.
A Hinduja spokesman in Mumbai declined to comment, as did Deutsche Bank.
Gulf Oil recently won a bid to buy U.S.-based Houghton International, a maker of metalworking fluids, for more than US$1 billion.