Unipetrol takes 100% ownership of Czech refineries

Unipetrol AS, a subsidiary of Polski Koncern Naftowy SA (PKN Orlen), has completed its purchase of former partner Eni SPA’s interest in Ceska Rafinerska AS (CRC) to become sole owner of the company, which operates two refineries in Czech Republic (OGJ Online, Dec. 22, 2014).

Unipetrol acquired Eni’s nearly 32.5% stake in CRC to become the refining company’s sole shareholder in a transaction that was finalized on Apr. 30, Unipetrol said.

The acquisition price, which was adjusted downward from an originally announced 30 million euros ($40.8 million) in July 2014 following a retained earnings payout by CRS prior to the transaction’s Apr. 30 closing, amounted to 24 million euros ($26.8 million), according to the company.

In a related transaction, Unipetrol also has agreed to purchase crude oil and refined product inventories from Eni for about 3.3 billion Czech koruna ($131.5 million).

A final purchase price for this deal, however, will be based on actual confirmed volumes of inventories and market prices, which are to be determined at the end of second-quarter 2015, Unipetrol said.

Unipetrol’s buyout follows the company’s overall strategy for 2013-17, released in June 2013, in which the operator said it planned to increase capital spending on projects designed to further integrate the refining and petrochemical segments of its business in order to guarantee secure feedstock supplies for its petrochemical operations (OGJ Online, July 3, 2014).

CRC operates Czech Republic’s only two running refineries—in Litvinov and Kralupy—which have a combined crude oil processing capacity of 8.7 million tonnes/year, according to Unipetrol.

With two crude distillation units, four conversion units, and a series of additional installations for further improving the quality of primary distillate products, the refinery in Litvínov – Zaluzi has a total crude processing capacity of 5.4 million tpy, Unipetrol said.

The Kralupy refinery, which includes a fluid catalytic cracking unit, processes about 3.3 million tpy of crude, according to Unipetrol.