In advance of the planned EUR 4.4 bn takeover of European polyolefins giant Basell (NL-2132 MS Hoofddorp; www.basell.com), the TCG private equity group of Indian-born US investor Purnendu Chatterjee is spending INR 15 bn (around EUR 275m) to acquire the shares held by the Indian state of West Bengal in Haldia Petrochemicals (New Delhi; www.haldiapetrochemicals.com). The fund, which already holds 43% of Haldia, is acquiring Basell in partnership with Russian-born US investor Len Blavatnik´s Access Industries.

Chatterjee´s move to gain control of Haldia may be part of a package of measures designed to facilitate the acquisition and subsequent integration of Haldia with Basell. Indian banks have agreed EUR 500m in loans for the Indian petrochemicals group, which was deeply in debt when TCG bought in. Investment bank Merrill Lynch is reported to be providing the lion´s share of funding for the Basell deal.

Reports in the Indian press linking the private equity company Winston Partners of Marvin Bush, brother of the US president, to the Basell coup have not been corroborated. John Flanagan, chief financial officer for Chatterjee, confirmed to the Calcutta Telegraph that TCG manages the funds of Winston Partners. However, he told the US trade publication Plastics News that this is not Bush´s Winston Partners. The name is a “coincidence,” he said.

The Bush fund´s involvement in Basell, if proved correct, could be a political embarrassment to the US administration, which is said to have intervened to block the sale of Basell to Iran´s National Petrochemical Company (Tehran; www.nipc.net). NPC is widely believed to have been the highest bidder.