Vitol to acquire 35% of Saras from Morati family

Dutch commodity group Vitol BV will acquire about 35 per cent of Saras SpA, a company engaged in the distribution of oil and gas products in Europe, from the Moratti family for €1.75 per share.

The Moratti family includes Massimo Moratti SapA di Massimo Moratti, Angel Capital Management SpA. (ACM), and Stella Holding SpA.

Saras and its subsidiaries are mainly engaged in the sale and distribution of oil products, including diesel, gasoline, heating oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), virgin naphtha,  jet and bunker fuel, mainly in Italy and Spain and to a limited extent in other European and non-European countries

The Morati group in its market disclosure on 11 February 2024 said the sale and purchase agreement with Vitol is subject to certain conditions precedent.

With the signing of the agreement, ACM and BofA Securities Europe SA (BofA) also terminated their `funded collar loan’ agreement, under which ACM had pledged 47,576,140 Saras shares.

ACM has undertaken to sell to Vitol the shares of Saras (if any) that it may be entitled to receive under the existing funded collar derivative contract, comprising about 5 per cent of Saras’s capital.

The sale and purchase agreement also provides that in case of a dividend distribution before the closing date of the transaction, the share price will be reduced accordingly.

The transaction is also subject to necessary regulatory approvals, including under the EU foreign subsidies regulation, the EU antitrust regulation and the Golden Power framework.