BP Buys Woolworths Petrol for $1.8billion.

[csv8]

"BP is to emerge as one of the top three petrol retailers in the country with the $1.8 billion purchase of Woolworths' chain of petrol stations nationwide which have been supplied until now by Caltex Australia.
Ahead of the deal, Caltex has made two acquisitions - one in Victoria and another in New Zealand - as it prepares for the loss of sales volume through the Woolworths petrol stations.


Woolworths will sell its petrol station portfolio to BP in a $1.8 billion deal that will help the retail giant fund its ongoing fight to regain market share in the grocery sector.*Photo: Glen Hunt
The deal between Woolworths and BP needs the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which could force the divestment of some petrol stations to third parties.
Woolworths needs the cash from the sale to reduce debt as it continues to streamline its operations in a bid to revive its faltering earnings. It is exiting its Masters hardware venture which is being wound up as it shrinks back to its core supermarket and Big W retail offering.
The deal between BP and Woolworths will enable the Woolworths 4¢*a litre discount to be extended to BP outlets, the retailer said, which will lift to 80 per cent from 75 per cent the number of its outlets with service station nearby.
A core part of the deal involves the operation of convenience stores at the service stations, with BP to trial the Woolworths Metro format at its service stations prior to committing to rolling them out across its network of 200 petrol stations.
The deal with BP involves all 527 Woolworths outlets and is expected to take up to 12 months to finalise, Woolworths said.
The Woolworths fuel business has annual revenue of $4.6 billion and earned a pretax profit of $117 million last financial year."
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/busi...27-gtimj7.html