Russian gas magnate exits Canada's Spartan Delta

Russian gas magnate Igor Makarov's capital investment vehicle has sold its 9.8% stake in Canadian gas producer Spartan Delta, Reuters reported on March 29.

Makarov's ARETI Energy SPV unit said it had offloaded 15mn shares in a privately negotiated sale transaction at C$8.10 ($6.50)/share, reducing its shareholding to around 8.4%.

Turkmenistan-born Makarov previously founded Russian independent gas supplier Itera, which mainly dealt with importing gas from his native country in the 1990s, later entering a joint venture with state-controlled Rosneft and agreeing to a $2.9bn takeover by the latter in 2013.

"The purpose of the share sale is to generate immediate liquidity and reduce ARETI's overall economic exposure to Spartan," the company said, according to Reuters.

Makarov's departure comes after Canada blocked investments from five Russian business holders including billionaire Roman Abramovich, and will soon prohibit national defence exports to 32 Russian entities or companies, Reuters reported on March 28.