A consortium including Anglo/Dutch oil company Shell has won a hotly contested privatization auction of Turkish refiner Tupras with a bid reported to be just over $4 billion.
According to reports Shell and its consortium of local allies led by Koc Holdings beat eight other suitors with their offer of $4.14 billion to secure a 51% ownership of state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corp. (Tupras). The major asset of the acquisition is a 500,000 barrels-a-day refinery in the eastern European state.
However, the competition was fierce as pre-auction predictions valued Tupras at over a billion dollars less than Shell’s winning bid. Shell faced its sternest competition from a joint venture comprising state-owned Indian Oil and Turkey’s Calik Enerji Sanayii, as well as OYAK, a Turkish industrial conglomerate.
Shell holds a 10% share in the winning consortium. Koc holds an 80% stake, while Aygaz owns 7% and Opet Petrolculuk 3%.