July 15, 2015 [OPIS] - Dutch tank storage operator Vopak is in "exploratory" talks over the sale of its entire U.K. terminal assets after receiving a non-binding offer from an unnamed party, the group said this week, as it seeks to offload a string of mostly smaller terminals worldwide.
“Royal Vopak has received a non-binding offer on all of its U.K. assets,” the operator of three fully-owned terminals near London (367,664 cbm), Teesside (287,480 cbm) and Cardiff (41,756 cbm) said. “Based on this interest, exploratory meetings are currently taking place,” albeit with uncertain outcome.
The group’s U.K. portfolio further includes a 33% stake in the former Coryton refinery on the estuary of the River Thames, alongside Shell and Greenergy, which was meant to be converted into an oil product import and distribution terminal, with a storage space of between 500,000 cbm and 1 million cbm.
However, the “”Thames Oilport” project has not kicked off to date. It was declared as being “under review” over the past two years. In late June, Vopak and its partners disclosed that a neighboring 403-acre land plot occupying most of the previous refinery site was available for sale, for re-development. A substantial part has been retained for Thames Oilport, according to a project spokesman.
“The current owners are in the process of clearing the site of the refinery’s structures and are intending to complete this process,” Thames Enterprise Park — which oversees the regeneration of brownfield sites on the Thames Estuary — said on June 25. “Demolition began in November 2014 and clearance of refinery process units is due to be completed in 2016, with other areas to follow.”
Since initiating its mid-2014 plan to sell about 15 terminals generating at that time about 4% of group EBITDA, Vopak has entered into deals to sell three terminals and a plot of land in the U.S. (North Wilmington, South Wilmington, Galena Park), four terminals in Sweden (Gothenburg, Gavle, Malmo, Sodertalje) and land in Turkey.
When revealing the disposal program, the group had said that “substantial” incremental storage capacity as well as legislative and geopolitical developments pressured occupancy rates and pricing, mainly in Europe.
Simultaneously, it had identified a “continuing economic shift from West to East,” as reflected in the heavy Asian focus for new terminal projects, underway at Hainan in China (1.35 million cbm), Singapore (990,000 cbm) and Pengerang in Malaysia (2.1 million cbm), besides others.
