Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, the world's third-largest oil corporation, is to sell Shell Romania SRL to Hungarian oil group MOL in a deal worth over 70 million dollars, according to estimates by oil market sources.
According to the latest information, the acquisition contract for Shell Romania SRL was scheduled for signing on Monday afternoon (yesterday). Sources say the official announcement is to be made today.
"We can neither confirm nor deny this information, as, in line with our policy, we never comment on press speculations," MOL Romania officials told Ziarul Financiar. Representatives of Shell Romania SRL had not commented on the matter by the time of going to press.
The business portfolio of Shell Romania SRL comprises some 59 gasoline stations, a lubricant business and the company's stake in the joint venture to supply aircraft fuel formed together with the International Airport Bucharest Otopeni.
Following this move, MOL will expand its network of gas stations from 74 to some 133, consolidating its position on the market, where it ranks fourth, behind Petrom-OMV, LUKOil and Rompetrol.
For its part, Shell is making a complete exit for the gas station market in Romania, after ranking second on the market for some years, just behind the market leader, Petrom, which has 81 stations.
In the summer of 2003, Shell sold 23 stations to MOL Romania in a transaction valued at 22-23 million dollars, representing the first step towards its market exit.
After selling Shell Romania SRL, the Anglo-Dutch group will continue to operate in Romania, but only on the LPG market through Shell Gas Romania, a joint venture in which Shell holds a 55% stake, with the rest of shares owned by Petrom.
The sale of SNP Petrom, Romania's largest oil company, to Austrian group OMV this summer, agitated the domestic oil market. Competitor companies are now trying to fight back. As a consequence, the Shell gas stations were also coveted by Agip (the local subsidiary of Italian group Eni), Rompetrol and, according to market sources, LUKOil.
MOL recently sold the main stake in its gas business to German company Ruhrgas, a member of E.ON, in a 2.2 billion-euro deal (1.5 billion euros having been paid in cash). Analysts believe MOL will use the money to consolidate the group's regional operations, including acquisitions in markets such as Romania, Serbia and Croatia.
MOL's chairman Zsolt Hernadi was recently quoted as saying MOL had forecasted organic growth for its Romania operations and was also considering acquisitions, depending on the opportunities that become available.
MOL entered the Romanian fuel distribution market in 1995 by buying the network of gas stations owned by Amocco (now part of British Petroleum), which had made the strategic decision to pull out of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. After that, the Hungarian operator built more gas stations and also bought some Shell stations last summer. MOL's acquisitions on the Romanian market exceeded 90 million dollars in late 2003. adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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