Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) has signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) to acquire a company that owns a chain of gas stations and other fuel activity in Europe for €150 million. Market source believe that the company owns 300-400 gas stations in Western Europe.
Delek Group is carrying out the acquisition through a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary. Delek has a six-month exclusivity period to carry out due diligence on the company.
Sources believe that Delek initiated the negotiations before Yitzhak Tshuva hired Mordechai Ben-Shach as CEO of Delek Europe a month, and that the talks picked up pace two weeks ago.
Last year, Delek Group sub-subsidiary Delek Benelux BV, held through Delek Israel Fuel Corporation Ltd. (TASE: DLKIS, acquired 803 Texaco-brand gas stations and 66 private brand gas stations in the Benelux from Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) subsidiary Chevron Global Energy Inc. for €342 million. By the time the deal was closed, Delek was already seeking to buy more gas stations in Western Europe in order to create economies of scale.
Delek Group was down 0.4% by mid-afternoon.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 13, 2008
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