ONGC Videsh (OVL) is all set to acquire British oil firm Imperial Energy. Imperial Energy explores oil in western Siberia. OVL is a foreign investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Commission. OVL managing director RS Butola said that the acquisition would help to grow the business in the Tomsk region.

The bid price of Imperial Energy is fixed at $2.58 billion with share price of 1,250 pence per share. It would be the third largest acquisition by any Indian company. The assets of the Russian Federation and CIS countries are also included in the deal. China’s Sinopec is another possible contender for the bid. Russia has specific rules for foreign companies operating in its oilfields and ONGC would get its approval. However, most of the shares of Imperial Energy are listed with the London Stock Exchange.

The offer to acquire the firm is initiated by Bidco which is a Cyprus-based fully owned subsidiary of OVL. China’s Sinopec is offering 10 per cent more than what the Indian firm is paying per share. The shares of Imperial Energy were declined by 0.7% in London. The company made a net loss of $42,501,000 in 2007 which was $14589000 in the previous fiscal.