Commodities trading firm Vitol B.V. is acquiring the entire stake of the prominent Moratti family in Italy’s Saras SpA.
Vitol is set to acquire approximately 35 percent of Saras' corporate capital. Massimo Morrati is an Italian billionaire and Saras Group chairman and CEO. The Moratti family is represented by Massimo Moratti S.a.p.A., Angel Capital Management S.p.A. (ACM), and Stella Holding S.p.A.
Under the sales and purchase agreement (SPA), the purchase price is $1.88 (EUR 1.75) per share, valuing the equity of Saras at $1.83 billion (EUR 1.7 billion), according to a joint news release from Vitol and the Moratti family. Subject to the fulfilment of certain circumstances, “ACM has undertaken to sell to Vitol the shares of Saras (if any) that ACM may be entitled to receive under the existing funded collar derivative contract”, which covers approximately five percent of Saras’s corporate capital, according to the release.
The completion of the transaction is exclusively subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals, such as clearances under the EU foreign subsidies regulation, the EU antitrust regulation and the Golden Power framework.
The closing of the transaction will trigger a mandatory tender offer (MTO) for the outstanding share capital of Saras, which will be launched by Vitol at the same price per share. The goal of the MTO is to achieve delisting from the Milan Stock Exchange, which may also be achieved through a delisting merger should the required conditions be met, according to the release.
Italy-based Saras is a leading industrial and energy company, and its assets include the largest single-site refinery in the Mediterranean. Located on an industrial site in Sardinia, the refinery supplies 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil products to Italy and the rest of Europe, while its fully-integrated power generation plant, one of the largest of its kind, has an installed capacity of 575 megawatts (MW) and supplies over 40 percent of Sardinia’s power. In addition, Saras has a significant renewables portfolio comprising 171 MW of operational wind assets and a pipeline of 593 MW and 79 MW of wind and solar projects, respectively, according to the release.
After closing the acquisition, Vitol will be invested in over 800,000 bpd of refining capacity across seven refineries, 4 gigawatts (GW) of thermal power generation and over 1.4 GW of renewable generation.
Moratti said, “62 years after my father founded it, together with my nephews Angelo and Gabriele and my sons Angelomario and Giovanni, I believe that the best assurance for the future success of the Sarroch refinery is the aggregation with a leading player in the global energy sector, such as Vitol, with relational, managerial and financial resources, needed to compete in the current international market environment”.
“Therefore, I believe that this transaction will be beneficial for all shareholders, the employees and the customers, as well as all other stakeholders whom I thank for the trust they have always placed in us”, Moratti continued.
“Today Saras is a solid and profitable company, [a] leader in the entire Mediterranean basin, and we wish Vitol to be able to expand the successes achieved so far”, he concluded.
“Our ambition is to invest in a strong Italian energy company, run by an empowered local management team and supported by Vitol’s expertise and market reach”, Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said. “We appreciate the significance of Saras within Sardinia, and the country more broadly, and are committed to continuing the Moratti family’s legacy of diligent stewardship, safe operations and support for the local community and employees. Saras’s business is highly complementary to Vitol’s core operations and this transaction will strengthen European energy security and enhance supply for a key European energy asset”.
To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com
What do you think? We’d love to hear from you, join the conversation on the Rigzone Energy Network.
The Rigzone Energy Network is a new social experience created for you and all energy professionals to Speak Up about our industry, share knowledge, connect with peers and industry insiders and engage in a professional community that will empower your career in energy.