(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, is a shareholder in secretive U.S. data-mining firm Palantir Technologies Inc., the Sunday Times reported.
The London-based oil giant first bought a Palantir stake in 2014, according to the Sunday Times report, which didn’t cite sources. The two companies have reportedly worked together for several years. Closely-held Palantir, founded and chaired by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, is known for its links to U.S. intelligence.
Such an investment is rare for BP, the Sunday Times said, yet may reflect its embrace of digitization under Bernard Looney, the company veteran who becomes chief executive officer in early 2020. The incoming CEO expanded the relationship with Palantir while he was head of its upstream operations, the Financial Times reported earlier this month.
Spokespeople at BP and Palo Alto, California-based Palantir didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
Palantir is in talks to raise significant funding from private investors, a move that could delay previous plans to hold an initial public offering, Bloomberg reported last month.
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