Hungarian oil and gas company MOL said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Eni
Group's subsidiaries in Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including 208
service stations.
"MOL Plc. hereby informs the capital markets
participants that as of today MOL signed a set of agreements with eni relating
to the acquisition of three eni subsidiaries including primarily their 208 Agip
branded service stations and wholesale activities in the Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Romania," the company said in a statement filed with the Budapest
Stock Exchange.
In Romania the MOL Group significantly expanded the local
network organically in the previous years. As a consequence of the current deal,
42 filling stations will be added to the existing network and the total Romanian
network will reach 189 service stations with more than 12% retail market
share.
The investment is fully in line with MOL Group’s strategy to
extend its presence and increase significantly the retail market share within
the supply radius of its core refineries, the company said.
The new
service stations will extend MOL's captive market as well as improve the
company's ability to reach end users. By the integration of these networks MOL
realizes pronounced wholesale and retail synergies and cost
optimisation.
The current transaction also includes the acquisition of
Eni’s wholesale businesses and headquarters with employees in the three
countries.
Closing of the transaction is subject to the fulfillment of
certain condition precedents, among others to obtaining an anti-monopoly
clearance.