DCC IS poised to buy a Netherlands-based liquid petroleum gas (LPG) business, in a deal that will bring its acquisition spend in recent weeks to €100 million.
The energy and distribution group said yesterday it had agreed to buy BP’s LPG distribution business in the Netherlands and Belgium for €24.5 million.
The companies trade as Benegas in the region and supply LPG to industrial, commercial and domestic customers. They employ 44 people.
Benegas’s adjusted gross tangible operating assets were approximately €15.4 million at the end of 2011, and it generated an adjusted operating profit of €4 million in the period.
The deal is expected to close later this year, provided it gets the go ahead from competition regulators in the Netherlands.
The move expands DCC’s presence in the Benelux region and comes just weeks after it announced it would buy BP’s LPG business in Britain in a €50 million deal.
Earlier this month, it agreed to buy Statoil’s LPG business in Norway and Sweden for an undisclosed sum.
“These acquisitions significantly increase the scale and geographic scope of DCC’s LPG business in Europe,” company chief executive Tommy Breen said.
Mr Breen pointed out the company had recently committed to spending €100 million buying LPG distribution businesses in Britain and Europe.
That €100 million figure implies the Scandinavian operator was sold for around €25 million.
Earlier this month, the UK Competition Commission gave DCC final clearance to go ahead with the purchase of oil distribution assets in Britain previously owned by French group Total.
The group agreed to buy the assets from Rontec Investments last September in a €67 million deal.
