UAE's Tristar to acquire 51% stake in HG Storage International for $215m

The deal will provide the Dubai company with an additional 3 million cubic metres of fuel storage capacity

A Tristar fuel farm at a company terminal in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone. Photo: Tristar

Dubai-based integrated energy logistics company Tristar has agreed to acquire a 51 per cent stake in HG Storage International Limited (HGSI) — a petroleum storage and logistics businesses — in a deal valued at $215 million.

The agreement will provide Tristar with an additional 3 million cubic metres of fuel storage capacity and extend the company’s global presence from 21 to 29 countries.

The deal is expected to be complete in the second quarter this year and is subject to certain regulatory filings, approvals and stakeholder consents.

Tristar said it will complete the deal through a purchase agreement with Hong Kong-based Madison Pacific, an independent provider of corporate trustee and debt service company.

The company, which has its headquarters in Jebel Ali, was founded in 1998 as a road transport business, and has developed into a storage and distribution company working with major oil firms. It has a fleet of more than 2,000 lorries and 35 maritime vessels. It operates more than 69 fuel farms and more than 100 remote sites.

Tristar has built a global and scalable platform which enables the company to provide an integrated logistics offering to the energy industry. It offers a range of remote fuel logistics services including construction of fuel storage facilities for aviation and ground fuels in remote and hostile locations.

It also operates a wide network of retail fuel stations in East Africa and offers commercial aviation and into plane refuelling services at several airports in East and West Africa.

Following its latest deal, Tristar will acquire a majority holding in a well-diversified portfolio of oil storage, distribution and retail assets owned by HGSI, comprising eight operating assets across four key regions — Europe, the Americas, Middle East and Africa.

HGSI is a joint venture between HNA Innovation Finance Group and Glencore Group Funding Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the world’s largest globally diversified natural resource company Glencore.

After the transaction, Glencore will remain a crucial shareholder of HGSI and a joint venture partner to Tristar. Glencore’s operations comprise about 150 mining and metallurgical sites and oil production assets in more than 35 countries.