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By Robert Harvey and Shariq Khan

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Global commodity trading house Gunvor's CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist will step down and sell his full shareholding in a management buyout, weeks after the U.S. dubbed the firm the "Kremlin's puppet" over its past Russian links.

The firm said on Monday that Americas head Gary Pedersen, hired by the company just last year, will assume the top role. 

"The buyout has been advanced at this time to establish a definitive reset and path forward for a company, for which misperceptions about its past have become an impossible distraction," Gunvor said in a statement.

That was a reference to the U.S. Treasury last month calling Gunvor the "Kremlin's puppet" and sinking what would have been Gunvor's biggest ever deal to acquire U.S.-sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil's international assets.

Gunvor said at the time that the Treasury's statement was "fundamentally misinformed and false" and it welcomed "the opportunity to ensure this clear misunderstanding is corrected."

SWITCH AT THE HELM SPELLS END OF AN ERA     

The leadership transition marks the end of Tornqvist's 25-year leadership of Swiss-based Gunvor, in a deal that could be worth billions of dollars.    

Tornqvist's shareholding stood at 84.79% at the end of 2024, according to the group's results, when the company had an equity value of $6.5 billion.

Tornqvist has already stepped down as CEO and will exit the company's board when the deal closes, Gunvor said. 

Gunvor did not specify the buyout value of Tornqvist's shares, or give a time frame for the buyout deal, which it said was first conceived in 2022.

TORNQVIST CO-FOUNDED GUNVOR IN 2000

"I'm ready and the company is ready for this transition, which we have worked on for some time. For a trading house of Gunvor's size and complexity, a broad-based, inclusive partnership is the right model," Tornqvist said.

Tornqvist, 72, co-founded Gunvor in 2000 with business partner Gennadiy Timchenko, and grew the company into the largest trader of Russian oil in the 2000s.

Gunvor has since expanded into new markets, including in recent years moving into U.S. gas and power, amid a wider trend of top trading houses allocating their record earnings towards expansion in different geographies and commodities markets.

GUNVOR EYES US EXPANSION

  Pedersen's promotion coincides with a push by Gunvor to smooth its ties with the U.S., which has seen the firm hold active talks to invest in U.S. oil and gas-producing assets in recent weeks.

Pedersen joined Gunvor last year from hedge fund Millennium Management, where he was a senior portfolio manager for refined products since 2022. 

His appointment came as Tornqvist undertook a broader shake-up of Gunvor's senior leadership, and the company said he was hired "with the intention of eventually assuming global leadership."

"The time is right for this transition. A generational shift has been well underway, and we have the financial strength, liquidity, and depth of leadership to continue to advance our global growth strategy," Pedersen said.

Under Pedersen, Gunvor's Americas arm has sought to grow its investments in U.S. shale gas production, joining other trading firms in betting that more control of the North American supply chain will pay dividends if AI growth and LNG plant expansions boost demand over the coming years.

Gunvor's U.S. portfolio currently has an enterprise value exceeding $4 billion and is a key growth area, a company spokesperson told Reuters recently.