Morgan Stanley says "no assurance" Rosneft Deal Will Close

 

Morgan Stanley said on Friday that there is "no assurance" a deal to sell its physical oil trading business to Russian oil company Rosneft will close.

The Wall Street bank cited a contractual requirement to get regulatory approvals by year end, and said it "would consider a variety of options" if deal does not close.

The news follows a Reuters report last month that Rosneft might back out of the deal because Western sanctions had hurt its ability to finance the operations. A key U.S. regulatory committee has asked the two parties for more information about the deal, but did not approve or reject it.

"In the current environment there can be no assurance that the transaction will close, especially in light of the existing contractual requirement that all necessary approvals be received by year end," the bank said in its statement. "We are continuing to operate the business in the ordinary course, and should the deal not close, we would consider a variety of options that take into account the interests of our shareholders, clients and employees." (Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)