Essar Energy Transition Retail acquires UK forecourt network SGN Retail

STANLOW, CHESHIRE: EET Retail Limited (“EET Retail”), the retail division of Essar Energy Transition Fuels (“EET Fuels”), today announced an agreement to acquire 100% of SGN Retail, a leading UK independent forecourt operator founded by Graham Peacock and Susan Tobbell. 

The transaction adds 118 high-quality forecourt locations to EET Retail’s portfolio. Combined with EET Retail’s fast-growing existing estate of 117 sites, the transaction establishes a scaled, nationwide mobility platform of 235 fuel forecourts with annual throughput exceeding 650 million litres, the company said. 

Reintegrating the UK fuels supply chain

As per a press release, Essar Energy Transition 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. 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 (~9% UK market share) 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, the company further said. 

Consumer benefits and national energy security

As per the company, “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. Furthermore, the integration of fuel production and sale will allow EET Retail to eliminate cost inefficiencies for motorists at the pump”

Arvan Ruia, CEO of EET Retail, commented, “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.” 

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.”

Transaction financing

The transaction will be funded through a combination of cash and a new £250m senior debt facility arranged by a bank group comprising First Abu Dhabi Bank, Macquarie Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Natixis, OakNorth Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, SMBC Bank International and Sound Point Capital Management, the press statement said.