Lyondell's unsecured creditors prepared to sue over Basell deal

June 17 (Reuters) - Unsecured creditors of bankrupt Lyondell Chemical Co are seeking approval to sue billionaire Len Blavatnik and the group of banks and advisors that led the petrochemical maker's $12.7 billion leveraged buyout by Basell AF S.C.A in 2007, saying the deal left the company with too little capital to fund operations.

In court papers filed on Tuesday in U.S. bankruptcy court in New York, Lyondell's unsecured creditors committee sought approval to pursue various legal claims, including fraudulent conveyance charges and breach of fiduciary duty, against the lenders and company leaders responsible for the deal.

The creditors are seeking the return of billions of dollars of "fraudulently transferred" assets, and say the potential recoveries to the company's bankruptcy estate would be "enormous."

The committee said they were seeking to bring the suit on Lyondell's behalf, because Lyondell will not pursue these claims as it has lined up financing during its bankruptcy from the same lenders that funded the merger.

LyondellBasell took on billions of dollars in debt obligations when Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik led the 2007 buyout, but the company collapsed into bankruptcy in January as it found it had run out of cash when it tried to service the heavy debt load amid a drop in demand for its products.

A copy of the creditors' potential complaint says the company's inability to fund its operations, which led to the bankruptcy, was entirely foreseeable and the direct result of the merger with Luxembourg-based Basell.

The $48-per-share price paid to Lyondell shareholders after the merger was understood to be a "blowout price," the complaint said. "Blavatnik was willing to pay this exorbitant price only because he had so little of his own money at stake."

Lyondell is part of the U.S. units of LyondellBasell Industries [ACCEIN.UL], which is owned by Blavatnik through New York-based Access Industries.

Access does not comment on pending litigation, a company spokesperson said by e-mail.