MOL and it s 25% subsidiary INA agreed with a Bosnian Commission on the sale of state assets to jointly buy the fuel trader Energopetrol, a Bosnian government official told to Bloomberg yesterday. According, Mr Mile Srdanovic, an assistant minister at Bosnia's Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry, the offer amounts to €115m for the 67% stake in the company, coupled with an investment obligation of €76.7m for the next three years and debt repayment of €31.7m. The agreed price is not so far away from the earlier agreed price, which we believe is fair for this oil company. The Bosnian government has not yet to approved the sale and is expected to do so on its next session June 15 – according to the Ministry official.
We see the news as neutral, given the small scale of the acquisition and the fair price MOL and INA are going to pay. Although we would see the acquisition positively from a strategic point of view, given MOL and INA could gain access to the largest retail fuel network in Bosnia (Energopetrol runs a network of 65 service stations and holds 15% of the Bosnian market). This high growth fuel market would be difficult to penetrate as a newcomer due to the geographical structure of the country.