Boehly-Led Group With Abu Dhabi's IHC Nears Swap Deal for Lukoil's Foreign Assets

The Syrian-Qatari Al-Khayat brothers are also part of the group, according to the report, and the US International Development Finance Corp (DFC) is backing the bid. Boehly is a Miami-based businessman with stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers.

How The Swap Would Work

The proposal involves no cash. Three sources told Reuters that a bank acting for the consortium has bought billions of dollars of frozen Lukoil securities from Western holders. The sellers were about 10 US and British investment funds, among them Capital Group, along with US depositary banks that held the securities for retail investors. Two sources said the securities were priced at 30 cents on the dollar because they are under sanctions.

Those securities would go back to Lukoil in return for its foreign assets. According to two sources, the consortium got its bid moving by promising to hold the shares in escrow instead of handing them straight to Lukoil.

That point matters for Washington. In December 2025 the US Treasury turned down an offer from a group that included US bank Xtellus Partners, saying Lukoil should not get a windfall from the sale, whether in shares or in cash. The Treasury had already blocked the commodities trader Gunvor as a buyer.

The Assets And The Process

The portfolio covers oilfields, refineries and petrol stations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. When the sale process began more than a year ago it was valued at $22 billion. Two sources told Reuters the value has since dropped because some of the assets have stopped operating.

Lukoil was forced to sell after the United States imposed sanctions on it in October 2025. Reuters reported in February that Washington had slowed the sale, partly to put pressure on Russia in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. More than a dozen parties bid, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Carlyle and Bernd Bergmair. Carlyle pulled out last month, which left the Boehly group in front, according to the report.

IHC told Reuters it does not comment on potential investment activities and Capital Group declined to comment. Boehly's representatives, Al Hail, the Al-Khayat brothers, the DFC, Lukoil and the US Treasury did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters did not report whether the Treasury has approved the consortium's structure, so the timetable remains what the sources expect, not a settled outcome.

Why It Matters

If it goes ahead, the deal would be one of the largest energy asset transfers prompted by sanctions on Russia. It would also be a significant step abroad for Abu Dhabi's IHC, one of the Gulf's most active acquirers. Reuters described the transaction as a test of whether Western sanctions can make a major Russian company sell its foreign operations while keeping strategic oil assets running and limiting how much money flows back to Moscow.

For Gulf investors, the reported line-up shows UAE capital working alongside US financiers and a US government development lender on a politically sensitive deal. The swap could clear the way for such a deal without putting cash in Lukoil's hands.