Argentine businessmen José Luis Manzano and Daniel Vela are one step closer to completing the acquisition of the assets of oil company Raizen in Argentina, which operates under the Shell brand. The operation includes approximately 900 service stations and the refinery located in Duc Sud.
Sources close to the process confirmed that the trading duo submitted a binding offer worth approximately $1.4 billion. Although the news could be finalized in the coming days, the completion depends on the acceptance of the price by the Brazilian Raizen Group, which can also cancel the sale if it is not convinced by the economic proposal.
After recently staying with Telefe, in partnership with Gustavo Scaglione, for around $95 million, Manzano and Vila’s offer isn’t the only one on the table. In the race to capture the local business of Raízen (owned in equal parts by the Brazilian group Cosan and the Anglo-Dutch multinational Shell), other major players are also competing: Trafigura, owner of Puma Energy service stations with a refinery in Bahia Blanca, Vitol, another international energy marketing company, and Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC), owned by Eduardo Ornikian.
If the purchase is completed, the businessmen will add a strategic pillar to their already diverse empire. Currently, Manzano and Villa own the electricity distribution companies EDENOR and Edemsa (in Mendoza province), which join Mercuria, the oil company Phoenix Global Resources (PGR), the main producer of crude oil on the Rio Negro, the Minera Aguilar company in Jujuy, with interests in expansion in lithium and uranium, and the recent acquisition of the Telefe channel from the giant Paramount, as well as América, A24 and the El newspaper. Cronista Comercial reports that last month, Manzano completed the sale of 50% of his stake in Refinor to YPF.
The decision taken by Risen to dispose of its assets in Argentina is not related to the departure of multinational companies, but rather to a financial strategy aimed at reducing its high debts.
The Brazilian group, mainly dedicated to sugar and biofuel businesses in its home country, maintains debt approaching $9 billion. A sale of its Argentine assets would help reduce this liability, the ratio of which is considered “risky” by market analysts compared to total EBITDA.