Lyondell Chemical (NYSE:LYO) shares jumped $3.45, or 10.43%, to $36.52 today after Russian billionaire Leonard Blavatnik bought the rights to acquire 8.3% of the company in a forward contract arranged by Merrill Lynch. The block of shares is being sold by Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY).

Blavatnik offered a fairly bland disclosure in his Schedule 13D filing with the SEC, saying that he may seek to engage in discussions with the company related to an offer to acquire all of the shares of Lyondell or to discuss a combination or similar transaction with Access or Basell holdings.

Occidental Petroleum is also up 2.5% on the news of the sale. The company has not said what it plans on doing with the gains on any sale of its stake in Lyondell Chemical. However, both of these companies are worth watching closely!

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