Chevron Corporation, which owns the Texaco brand, is seeking buyers for its remaining assets in the Caribbean from Jamaica and other oil company said Thursday, but there was some wiggle room by calling it a "potential" sale.
But the company has already begun to dispose of its assets in Jamaica, informed sources have confirmed.
The revelation follows Chevron announced the sale of its fuel-marketing and business aviation in the Eastern Caribbean and Central America for an operation of French-owned oil in a deal to close next summer.
Vitogaz SA, a wholly owned subsidiary RUBIS Group, will acquire 174 stations, plus a share related to a refinery, terminals and installation of aviation fuel, and a commercial fuels business and industry.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the transaction RUBIS described on its website as a "takeover U.S. $ 300 million of Chevron's distribution activities in the Caribbean."
David Sterling, district manager for Chevron in the Caribbean, which operates from Nueva San Salvador, said that the oil company wants a less complex structure for its global operations and is in the process of soliciting bids for more regional operations.
Chevron said it was reducing its presence in the region to invest their capital in other parts of the overall operation for a better return on investment and strengthen its competitive position in a global industry difficult.
"There are nine other Caribbean markets, like Jamaica, for a possible sale," Sterling said via email.
He refused to talk about the issue.
The new owners
However, the Financial Gleaner has learned that Chevron has sold its lubricants division of local distribution to a Guatemalan company called Lucalza, which specializes in the distribution of lubricants, filters and batteries.
The new owners took over the company, located in Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston, on 1 November. Eventually be known by the name of Lucalza, told the Financial Gleaner.
Still operates 60 Chevron Texaco service stations in Jamaica, but has only a few, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, while the majority is owned by its dealers.
Chevron operation is mainly confined to the distribution of gas and jet fuel, said our source.
Texaco network of 60 stations positions at No. 3 on the local distribution market petroleum gas behind cold owned by Shell and Total SA.
The RUBIS / Vitogaz deal includes assets in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Guyana, St. Kitts, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Belize.
"There are still some Eastern Caribbean countries that were excluded from this, Suriname and St. Maarten and the Virgin Islands of the U.S.," said a source familiar with the matter.
The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011, pending regulatory approval.
Texaco also has assets in places like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.
U.S. oil giant sold its distribution operation in Haiti last year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment