Petroplus gets first offers for German plant
SEVERAL interested parties have submitted offers for insolvent refiner Petroplus’ Ingolstadt plant in Germany, a spokesman for the refinery’s administrator said yesterday.
“We’ve received non-binding offers and are now organising plant visits,” said the spokesman for administrator Jaffe Rechtsanwaelte Insolvenzverwalter.
“We hope to be able to conclude negotiations in the second quarter,” he added.
The relatively complex 110,000 barrel-per-day Ingolstadt plant is widely seen as one of the more attractive of the many European refineries up for sale. The spokesman declined to comment on the number of bidders and the names of the parties involved.
Oil trader Vitol, Swiss private investor Gary Klesch and former Russian energy minister Igor Yusufov are among those who have already expressed interest in the plant. “There is no pressure for us to sell. This is not a firesale,” said the spokesman.
Swiss-based Petroplus was pushed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year by high debt and weak oil processing margins. Its Coryton plant in Essex has also been put on the market, and its Antwerp plant in Belgium was sold to trading firm Gunvor last month.