Blackstone’s Jon Gray, Ex-BP Boss Bernard Looney Join ADNOC’s $80 Billion XRG Board
(Reuters) — United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved a board of directors for XRG, state oil giant ADNOC's new international investment arm, including Blackstone's Jon Gray and former BP boss Bernard Looney, ADNOC said on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company announced last month it was setting up XRG, saying it was worth over $80 billion and would focus on lower carbon energy, including gas, and chemicals.
Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC's chief executive, was appointed executive chairman of the new entity, which is expected to become operational in the first quarter of next year.
Along with Gray and Looney, the board also included Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, UAE Investment Minister and CEO of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chairman of the UAE president's office for strategic affairs Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, and Jasem Al Zaabi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and telecoms conglomerate e&.
Looney was dismissed by BP's board last December. The oil major said he had knowingly misled the board by failing to disclose past relationships.
ADNOC has done a series of deals this year in gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and chemicals, which it considers essential to its future growth alongside renewables. UAE state-owned renewables firm Masdar, in which ADNOC has a 24% stake, has also made several acquisitions.
ADNOC struck a deal in October to buy German chemicals maker Covestro for $16.3 billion, including debt. Covestro last month said its management and supervisory boards supported the takeover offer, which will be one of the largest foreign acquisitions by a Gulf state and ADNOC's largest.
The appointment of big names from the world of finance and energy to XRG's board signals its grand ambitions, as ADNOC pursues its aggressive growth strategy.
Reuters reported in April that ADNOC had considered buying BP but the deliberations did not progress beyond preliminary discussions.
The oil giant is also in talks that could lead to other foreign deals, including with Austria's OMV over the merger of chemical firms Borouge and Borealis.
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