EET Retail Limited, the retail division of Essar Energy Transition Fuels announced on Monday its agreement to acquire 100 per cent of SGN Retail, a leading UK independent forecourt operator founded by Graham Peacock and Susan Tobbell.
A spokesman said that the transaction adds 118 high-quality forecourt locations to EET Retail’s portfolio, taking its overall total to 235 fuel forecourts with annual throughput exceeding 650 million litres.
Arvan Ruia, chief executive officer of EET Retail, said: “Building a scaled, vertically integrated retail forecourt platform is a critical pillar of our long-term UK strategy.
“SGN Retail is one of the highest-quality forecourt networks in the UK well ahead of the market.
“This acquisition accelerates our plan to build a nationwide, vertically integrated platform of 800 sites, backed by direct refinery supply and delivering competitive prices at the pump for UK motorists.”
Essar Energy Transition said it is committing to a model in the UK that integrates the manufacture of fuels with the sale of fuels to consumers in an efficient and reliable way.
A spokesman added: “Over the last two decades, the UK market has fragmented between fuel retail and fuel production, as oil majors have significantly reduced their domestic refinery investments, leading to a complex and inefficient supply chain, often dependent on imports or complex domestic supply chains.
“EET Retail aims to challenge this dynamic in order to support an efficient and robust supply to UK customers.
“The transaction creates the second largest UK forecourt network that is backwardly integrated with fuel production.
“The acquisition of SGN Retail will substantially accelerate EET Retail’s long-term roadmap and strategic objective to scale its footprint to supply domestic fuel directly to 800 forecourts by 2031.
“EET Retail believes that the combination of demographic growth, the rise of multi-car households and the declining number of forecourts in the UK create an attractive outlook to invest in the forecourt sector.”
Rerouting fuel refined at Stanlow directly into EET Retail forecourts boosts domestic supply security, by allowing UK refined fuel to be more efficiently distributed to domestic UK consumers.
Viral Gathani, head of strategic transactions at Essar Energy Transition, added: “This is a unique, best-in-class opportunity and advances a core part of our M&A strategy.
“The transaction is backed by a top-tier group of banks spanning four continents, several supporting the UK forecourt sector for the first time, underscoring confidence in our backward-integrated growth model and in the UK fuels and convenience markets.”