Vitol's tender offer to delist Italy's Saras starts on July 12
11/07/2024 17:08
By Francesca Landini
MILAN, July 11 (Reuters) - A mandatory tender offer by
global commodity trader Vitol on Italian oil refiner Saras
SRS.MI will start on July 12 and end on August 9, a financial
vehicle for Vitol said on Thursday.
Italian market watchdog Consob late on Wednesday approved
the prospectus for the bid, under which Vitol's financial
vehicle Varas aims to buy 54.52% of Saras share capital to
delist the refiner, Varas said.
Varas will offer 1.6 euros per Saras share, a price deemed
fair by the board of directors of the refiner, Saras said in a
separate statement.
Saras' most important asset is the Sarroch plant in
Sardinia, which is the single biggest refinery in the
Mediterranean with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
The geographical location of the plant is particularly
favourable for serving the Mediterranean market.
In February Swiss commodity trader Vitol agreed to buy 35%
of the oil refiner from Italy's Moratti family at 1.75 euros per
share, valuing the entire group at 1.7 billion euros ($1.85
billion).
In recent months, Vitol has increased its stake in Saras to
45.48%.
The bid price has been adjusted to take into account the
payment of a dividend equal to 0.15 euros per share on 2023
results.
Italy's government has given a conditional green light to
Vitol's plan to take over the oil refiner.
In another deal in the Italian energy sector,
Vitol-sponsored company VTTI is set to get a 70% stake in
Italy's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal with the
country's gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI owning the rest.
($1 = 0.9198 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437;
Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))