Rubis to purchase for €115 m bp's lpg retail operations in portugal and to consider an equity issue

 August 1^st, 2013

RUBIS has signed an agreement with BP to purchase its 170 000 tons LPG distribution business in Portugal representing Rubis' Europe based largest single market.

This acquisition clearly fits into Rubis' niche market strategy:

• Well established business: having been operating for over 50 years, it is a largely autonomous and well integrated supply and marketing business, benefitting from a high market density across all segments and one of the leading market participants;
• Strong asset base: the business has access through JV agreements to the essential import infrastructure to economically supply the market which is structurally dependent on LPG imports, with access to over 65 000 m³ of storage capacity, as well as it's own filling plants and distribution platforms;
• Significant market presence: the business secures the majority of sales revenue from the cylinder segment, the most resilient during business cycles;
• Potential for growth: coming from the development of the autogas segment, piped LPG to housing estates, as well as developing additional sales in Spain following deregulation.

Despite the economic difficulties in Portugal over the past 3 years, the business has nevertheless shown to be particularly resilient, and the slowdown of the expansion of the natural gas network and the increased competitiveness of LPG verses other fuels indicates further capacity to rebound when the economy stabilizes.

Rubis and BP have signed today the transaction documents, and completion should take place in the first half of 2014 after completing the necessary transaction steps and implementation of IT infrastructure.

The agreed cash and debt free purchase price is €115 million represents an EBITDA multiple of less than 5 based on 2012 earnings and benefits from downward price adjustment mechanism based on future earnings.

In addition to current capital expenditure, developments (Antwerp, Rotterdam and Ceyhan) and acquisitions (Jamaïca and Reichstett), over the past year, this latest acquisition brings total cumulative Group's investments or commitments close to €350 million.

Those financing needs are already secured by existing credit lines, the equity line and current cash-flow generation. Nevertheless, in order to carry on its growth strategy as further opportunities for development arise, the Group is considering an equity issue aiming at covering about one fourth of its financial commitments while securing an earning per share enhancement factor as a result of this acquisition.

Next update:
2013 Half-year results: August 29, 2013