BP Plc is seeking a strategic investor to secure its independence in the face of any takeover attempts as it struggles with a devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, newspapers said Sunday.
Britain’s Sunday Times said the company’s advisers were trying to drum up interest among rival oil groups and sovereign wealth funds to take a stake of between 5 and 10 percent in the company at a cost of up to 6 billion pounds ($9.1 billion).
The reports came as The New York Times said that BP is asking its partners in the ruptured well, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., to contribute nearly $400 million to the clean-up effort.
BP sent out demands for $272 million from Anadarko and $111 million from Japanese company Mitsui on June 2. That represents roughly 40 percent of the $1 billion BP spent in May, according to The New York Times.