Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s potential acquisition of Gunvor, the energy trading house, has reached an impasse due to disagreement between the two sides over the size of the deal, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
While Adnoc had hoped to acquire all of Gunvor, or a majority stake, the commodity trader’s chief executive Torbjörn Törnqvist is unwilling to give up control of the group he co-founded in 2000, two people involved in the discussions said.
Instead, Törnqvist, who controls almost 90 percent of Gunvor, has told Adnoc that he is only willing to sell a minority stake as a way to raise funds to drive growth.
Gunvor and Adnoc both declined to comment.