(Bloomberg) -- Shell Plc and its South African partner are close to ending a valuation dispute, paving the way for the sale of the oil giant’s local downstream assets for as much as $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The London-based company has a network of 600 service stations across the country, and Thebe Investment Corp. — owned by Black investors — has a 28% stake in the local retail operation, bought in 2002 for about $70 million.
The dispute arose in 2022, when Thebe wanted to exit its stake and the parties couldn’t settle on the value of the holding. They are now close to agreeing on ending the impasse, said the people, who asked to remain unidentified because the information is private.
Shell said it doesn’t comment on commercial matters, while Thebe was unavailable for comment.
A potential deal could also fetch Thebe more than the initial $200 million at which the company valued its stake in 2022, said the people. At the time, Shell estimated it was worth less.
The agreement by both parties to sell — a process that Rothschild and Co. is running — would also give potential buyers certainty about the size of the deal as they place binding offers in the coming weeks, said the people.
The assets have attracted interest from Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and trading firm Trafigura, among others, Bloomberg reported in September.
Shell and BP Plc jointly owned Sapref, South Africa’s largest oil refinery, and sold it for a symbolic 1 rand (five US cents) to the state-owned Central Energy Fund after the oil majors stopped processing there in 2022.
A deal for Shell’s downstream assets would follow the sale of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s 74% stake in Engen Ltd., South Africa’s biggest gas-station chain, to a unit of trading house Vitol Group in 2023.
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