Carlyle and Vitol invest in Varo Energy

The deal saw Carlyle and Vitol each taking a 50% stake in the company, and also provided an exit for previous Vitol investor AtlasInvest. Furthermore, Varo will acquire all shares in PT Holdings, the holding company for Petrotank Neutrale Tankager and Vitol Germany, from Vitol. Varo will also purchase all OMV Deutschland shares held by Bayernoil Raffineriegesellschaft, as well as several downstream assets owned by OMV Deutschland.

Carlyle's investment was made via its recently created CIEP fund, which is focused on oil and gas investments.

Company
Following the triple transaction, Varo Energy will comprise three core business lines - refining, wholesale distribution and storage - with a combined refining capacity of 160,000 bbl/d.

Assets include the Cressier refinery in Switzerland, all of the Petrotank storage facilities in Germany, storage facilities in Switzerland and a 45% shareholding in the Bayernoil refinery in Bavaria, Germany.

Varo began life in Neuchatel, Switzerland as the Cressier Refinery was originally commissioned by Shell in 1966. The 74-hectare site was then purchased by Petroplus in 2000.

People
Marcel van Poecke is managing director and head of CIEP. Ian Taylor is president and CEO of Vitol.

Advisers
Equity - Clifford Chance, Thijs Alexander, Gerrit Jan Kleute (Legal). 

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• DACH
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• Carlyle Group
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