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US/Russia: Political tension delays Morgan Stanley oil sale

By  |  June 18, 2014

The US Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it has approved of Morgan Stanley’s plans to divest its oil merchanting business to a Russian company, but the firms will wait to seek additional approval of the deal until political tensions between the US and Russia ease.

According to reports, Morgan Stanley will sell the operations to OAO Rosneft. Despite FTC clearance, the two will need approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

A source said the companies will hold off on approaching by the CFIUS due to political uneasiness.

Still, reports say the deal will likely win the necessary regulatory approval because the transaction does not involve hard assets, such as pipelines. Morgan Stanley said it expects to finalize the deal in the third quarter of this year. Financial details of the divestiture were not reported.

Full content: Bloomberg

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