Deals
Russians Drop Texas Oil Bid, Averting Trump Security Review
- Fridman-backed L1 is said to have bid $700 million for ExL
- Seeing ‘political cloud’ in U.S., Fridman puts deals on pause
Oil Refinery
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Only 16 months ago, the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and his business partners happily sank $200 million into Uber.
But now Fridman’s investment company, LetterOne, has pulled out of an even bigger U.S. investment to avoid resistance from an unexpected corner -- the Trump administration. LetterOne’s L1 Energy unit recently walked away from a deal to buy Texas oil producer ExL Petroleum Management LLC for about $700 million over concerns the plan could be rebuffed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, the government panel that reviews deals for national security risks.