Colombian fuel company Terpel SA, which also operates in several countries in the region, is readying an offer for all of the Brazil-based Petrobras fuel stations in Colombia, according to national authorities.
“We inform the market that Organizacion Terpel is participating in the process started for the sale of Petrobras Colombia Combustibles, which is in the fuel distribution business in our country,” the Colombian Superintendency of Industry and Commerce said this week. “Included in the assets of that sale are service stations, convenience stores and a lubricant plant. In the development of that process, the board of Terpel has approved the presentation of a binding offer which continues in analysis."
Terpel officials reached by telephone declined to provide any additional comment.
Petrobras, which has also been involved in hydrocarbon exploration in the country, expanded into Colombia in 1972. According to the Petrobras website, the company's Colombia holdings are a network of 114 service stations in which there are 10 convenience stores operating under the brand Spacio 1, nine minimarkets and two kiosks.
Colombia Terpel is the leading fuel distributor and merchant in Colombia with 43 percent of the market, according to the company´s website. Terpel already has a network of over 2,000 service stations, 29 supply plants and operations in 20 airports in the country. It has a 45-year history of operations in Colombia, and also has operations in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Peru. In addition, the Terpel-Gazel network has 47 percent of the market of compressed natural gas in Colombia.
The information comes after Petrobras said this year it was planning to sell nearly $14 billion in assets by 2016 to reduce debt, protect cash and focus on priority projects. The company is mired in a corruption scandal over allegations of massive bribery in Brazil over the past years, and some former company officials are under investigation or already facing prosecution.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is not under investigation, even though she was chairwoman of the board of Petroleo Brasileiro SA from 2003-10. However, her popularity has plunged as the Brazilian economy shows weakness. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean projects that the Brazilian economy will contract by 1.5 percent this year.
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