Sinopec to buy 75% in Chevron’s South Africa and Botswana assets for nearly $1 bn
23 Mar 2017
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) yesterday struck a deal to buy a 75 per cent stake in US oil giant Chevron Corp's South African assets and its subsidiary in Botswana for nearly $1 billion (R12.62 billion).
The deal will give the Chinese state-owned giant its first major refinery in Africa.
The assets in the sale comprises of a 100 000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Cape Town, a lubricants plant in Durban as well as 820 petrol stations and other oil storage facilities.
The sale also includes Chevron's 220 convenience stores across South Africa and Botswana.
The remaining 25 per cent of the assets would continue to be held by a group of local shareholders, in accordance with South Africa's black economic empowerment requirements.
Sinopec plans to retain Chevron's Caltex brand for the retail stations for up to six years before launching a rebranding strategy.
''With this investment, Sinopec looks forward to becoming an integral part of South Africa and Botswana's local economies,'' the company said in a statement.
Chevron had put these assets for sale a year ago as part of its three-year divestment program announced in 2014.