Essar Energy Transition Retail (EET Retail), a part of the Cheshire-based Essar Energy Transition Fuels (EETF), has announced an agreement to purchase 100 percent of the shares of SGN Retail, a major independent petrol station operator in the UK, for £250 million (equivalent to $338 million).
The company stated in its announcement that this deal will add 118 high-quality sites to EET Retail's portfolio. By joining the existing 117 petrol stations, the transaction will form a scaled national mobility platform comprising 235 fuel stations with an annual throughput exceeding 650 million liters.
The financing for this deal will be provided through a combination of cash and a new senior debt instrument totaling £250 million, arranged by a group of banks including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Macquarie Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Natixis, OakNorth Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, SMBC Bank International, and Sound Point Capital Management.
Essar Energy Transition stated its commitment to a model in the UK that combines fuel production with the sale of that fuel to consumers in an efficient and reliable manner. The company emphasized that this deal creates the second-largest petrol station network in the UK integrated with fuel production.
The acquisition of SGN Retail is intended to accelerate EET Retail's long-term plan to expand its presence to 800 petrol stations for direct supply of internal fuel, which would account for approximately 9 percent of the UK market share by 2031.
The company noted that the combination of demographic growth, an increase in multi-car households, and the reduction in the number of petrol stations in the UK creates attractive prospects for investment in the petrol station sector. Furthermore, the company added that redirecting fuel refined at the Stanlow refinery directly to EET Retail's petrol stations will enhance the security of internal supply, allowing for more efficient distribution of refined fuel across local UK consumers.