Russian Oil Producer to Buy Getty Petroleum

OAO Lukoil Holding, Russia’s biggest oil producer, agreed to buy Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. for about $71 million in cash to increase its access to the U.S. retail market through Getty’s 1,300 gas stations. Lukoil said it will pay $5 a share for Jericho, N.Y.-based Getty’s common stock. The price represents a 45% premium over Getty’s closing price of $3.44, up 19 cents on NYSE. Getty serves retail customers in 13 Northeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. states and is a wholesale distributor of petroleum products on the East Coast. The acquisition is the first of a publicly held U.S. company by a Russian corporation, the companies said. Moscow-based Lukoil’s American depositary receipts, each representing four common shares, fell $1 to $52.75 on the Nasdaq Bulletin Board. The agreement was announced after the close of regular U.S. trading.