(Bloomberg) – The family of Italian billionaire Massimo Moratti has been approached by potential buyers for a stake in Salas, owner of Southern Europe’s largest single-site refinery, people familiar with the matter say. revealed.
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Those involved in the talks included major commodity trading giant Vitol Group, according to the people, who requested anonymity because the conversations are private.
Representatives for Mr. Salas, Mr. Vittor and the Moratti family declined to comment.
Salas’ shares rose as much as 5.2% in the Milan transaction, valuing the company at more than 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion).
The Moratti family’s 40% stake is worth about 625 million euros (about $673 million) at current prices, giving them control of the company. Massimo Moratti, chairman and chief executive officer and former owner of soccer club Inter Milan, owns 20%. His nephews Gabriele Moratti and Angelo Moratti each own 10% through a holding company.
The industry family has a shareholder agreement that expires in June, increasing interest from potential buyers, the people said.
“Investors may again place an M&A premium on stocks,” Mediobanca analyst Alessandro Pozzi said in a note to clients on Thursday. “This could potentially suit industrial players who want to retain more control along the downstream value chain.”
BI view: Potential interest in Saras underlines margin resilience: Reaction
Founded by his family in the 1960s, Salas operates the 300,000 barrels per day Saloch refinery on the island of Sardinia. Commodity trader Trafigura Group holds about 9.6% of the refiner’s shares after selling about 4% last month.
The refinery is considered relatively advanced, meaning it can fine-tune the crude it processes and the fuel it produces. The ISAB facilities in Italy, which are split into northern and southern parts, are even larger together, making it the largest single-site factory in southern Europe.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Salih Yilmaz said in a note Thursday that potential interest in the stock reflects “the Italian refiner’s favorable position in a normalizing but still healthy margin environment. I am emphasizing that.”
–With assistance from Dinesh Nair, Archie Hunter, Sonia Sirletti, and Antonio Vanuzzo.
(Updates regarding stocks and investor agreements starting from paragraph 4)
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