PRNewswire/ Vitol Tank Terminals B. V. ("VTTI") and its wholly owned subsidiary Eurotank Belgium B.V., part of the Vitol Group of companies ("Vitol") entered today into a share purchase agreement with Universal Holding B.V. and Petroplus International B.V., subsidiaries of Petroplus Holding A.G. ("Petroplus") (SIX: PPHN) to acquire a 100% interest in Petroplus Refining Antwerp N.V. and Petroplus Refining Antwerp Bitumen N.V. (the "Facilities").
The Facilities are located in the Port of Antwerp and are connected to an extensive pipeline network and harbour infrastructure providing flexibility for hydrocarbon feedstocks, intermediates and finished products. The Facilities have one of the largest bitumen processing plants in the Benelux region with a capacity of approximately 875,000 tons per annum, a gasoil hydrotreating plant with capacity of 22,300 barrels per day and a tank storage facility with a potential capacity of approximately 450,000 cubic metres after additional investment.
The cash consideration payable under the terms of the agreement is US$25 million excluding the cost of inventory. The closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2009 and is subject to, amongst other things, certain regulatory approvals.
Commenting on the acquisition, Ian Taylor, President and CEO of Vitol, remarked: "We are delighted to be adding the Antwerp Facilities to our existing asset base. This processing and storage facility is well placed in the major refining and trading hub in North West Europe. It will add significant storage capacity to our existing terminal business and obvious synergies with our global operations."
Founded in 1966, the Vitol Group operates worldwide and is one of the world's largest private integrated oil companies. With a turnover of US$191 billion in 2008, Vitol moves over 5 million barrels per day of physical crude oil and oil products. In addition to Antwerp, Vitol also has a refinery in Fujairah and a long term contract to manage the crude oil supply and product offtake for the North Atlantic refinery in Newfoundland. The storage and terminals company, VTTI, has a number of major terminals in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Fujairah and Argentina, as well as a 49% shareholding in the Ventspils terminal in Latvia. Current storage capacity worldwide is over 4 million cubic metres.
Petroplus Holdings AG is the largest independent refiner and wholesaler of petroleum products in Europe. Petroplus focuses on refining and currently owns and operates seven refineries across Europe. The refineries have a combined throughput capacity of approximately 864,000 barrels per day.