Bulgaria's Petrol Mulls Selling up to 200 Filling Stations, Disposal Eyed by Gazprom Unit, Greek-owned Eko - Media

The preparations for the disposal are at an early stage and the deal could happen over the next six to 12 months, local news weekly Capital (www.capital.bg) reported in its latest edition, quoting unnamed sources from the local fuel industry

"We have repeatedly stated that any asset in the portfolio of [Petrol's parent company] Petrol Holding is potentially an asset that is up for sale. Unfortunately, I am unable to break any particular news to you because there just isn't any," Bulgarian businessman Mitko Sabev, who controls over 95% of Petrol jointly with Russian national Denis Ershov, told the weekly.

Capital said it has received no response from the press office of Gazprom Neft, a unit of Russia's Gazprom, regarding their interest in Petrol.

Eko Bulgaria, a unit of Greece's Hellenic Petroleum, is sticking to its target to reach a 10% market share by end-2010 and plans to either buy or build 30 new filling stations on top of the 81 it currently operates, the company's Executive Director, Ioannis Polykandriotis, told Capital but declined to comment on Petrol's assets divestiture.

PREP WORK UNDERWAY

Petrol's announcement a couple of days ago that it was going to spin off around 200 of its about 400 filling stations into a new subsidiary, Elit Petrol, was interpreted by industry insiders as apparent preparation for their disposal, Capital said.

The management of the fuel retailer said the move would aim to boost financial results and improve the quality of customer service.

The establishment of Elit Petrol and an increase of its capital through a 72 million lev ($55.4 million/36.8 million euro) non-cash contribution is expected to be put to a vote at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting scheduled for December 18, the weekly said.

PUMPED UP EXPECTATIONS

According to Capital, Sabev and Ershov are asking 800 million euro ($1.21 billion) for the assets earmarked for sale, a valuation based on the 237 million euro price received last year from local peer Lukoil for 75 Petrol filling stations and one petrol base.

Industry insiders, however, believe the asking price is exorbitant in light of the current market conditions. "If they get 100-150 million euro, that would be a home run," a source close to the incipient deal told Capital.

The fuel retailer posted a net profit of 209.8 million levs in 2008 on sales revenue of 1.0 billion levs.

Petrol (www.petrol.bg) has a 16% share of Bulgaria's retail fuel market, Capital said, quoting industry data. The other major players are Lukoil with a 20% share, Shell Bulgaria with 17%, OMV Bulgaria with 17% and Eko with 6.5%.

Petrol shares closed unchanged at 3.71 levs on the Sofia bourse on Wednesday, putting the company's market capitalisation at around 405 million levs.

(1 euro=1.95583 Bulgarian levs)