By Linda Sandler March 10 (Bloomberg) — Billionaire Len Blavatnik , who controlled LyondellBasell Industries AF before it went bankrupt, is seeking a 15 percent equity stake in the reorganized company, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. Blavatnik, through his industrial holding company Access Industries Holdings LLC, is putting up $800 million to guarantee a rights offering that will add $2.8 billion in equity to Lyondell, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the deal isn’t public. Access may get between 5 and 15 percent of the stock, the person said. Additional sponsors of the offering are Apollo Management LP and Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund III. Lyondell, the Rotterdam-based chemical company, said earlier this week that it planned to exit bankruptcy April 30. Rejecting a $14.5 billion purchase offer by Reliance Industries Ltd. , the company said in a disclosure statement that its own reorganization plan would give it a so-called enterprise value of $15.2 billion. “Access has believed in the combination of Lyondell and Basell from the outset and has remained supportive of the company throughout the reorganization, both through its active involvement on the board and its recent commitment to invest up to $800 million,” Blavatnik said today in an e-mailed statement. Worth $7 Billion Ukrainian-born Blavatnik, 52, is now worth $7 billion, according to three people familiar with his finances. While his earlier $1.1 billion investment in Basell and Lyondell was erased by the bankruptcy, he had already recouped much of his money through fees, dividends and other payments, according to a lawsuit filed by unsecured creditors. Blavatnik was paid $333 million for Lyondell stock he owned when it merged with Basell, also taking $125 million in advisory and management fees, according to court documents. In addition, Basell separately paid him three dividends during 2007 totaling $430 million, they said in the lawsuit. The creditors seek to take back a $300 million loan that Lyondell repaid to Access, and other Lyondell assets transferred to shareholders, before the bankruptcy filing in Manhattan federal court, according to court papers. A U.S. citizen, Blavatnik built his wealth from real estate and interests in privatized Russian companies, he has said. He made $1 billion in January as a minority owner of Moscow-based aluminum producer United Co. Rusal, which conducted an initial public offering in Hong Kong, the people said. “We will not be able to say how many shares any holder will possess until after the rights offering,” David Harpole , a Lyondell spokesman, said in an interview. Restructuring Costs Lyondell, which estimated its restructuring costs at more than $700 million, said 2010 revenue may fall to $36.8 billion, after being as high as $50.7 billion in 2008. Its restructuring plan includes a settlement of litigation between unsecured creditors and secured lenders related to the 2007 buyout. The creditors alleged that the deal crippled one of the world’s largest polymers, petrochemicals and fuel companies, forcing it to seek bankruptcy protection. Blavatnik and his Access aren’t part of the settlement reached with lenders and other parties, according to the documents. The bankruptcy case is In re Lyondell Chemical Co., 09- 10023, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net .
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Billionaire Blavatnik Said to Seek 15% Stake in Reorganized LyondellBasell
