February 2, 2016 [Reuters] - Swiss trader Gunvor Group has completed the acquisition of its third European refinery from Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), it said on Monday.
The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Gunvor said the 88,000 barrels per day KP Europoort would be re-named Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam and would be linked to its two other refineries in Antwerp, Belgium and Ingolstadt, Germany.
Gunvor said it would maintain the refinery running. The refinery’s union had previously told Reuters Gunvor planned to close one crude distillation unit at the plant which would mean cutting 25 percent of the refinery’s roughly 350-strong workforce.
“The Rotterdam refinery will enhance Gunvor’s existing refining operations, particularly through synergies with our Antwerp facility, while complementing our global trading activities,” said Gunvor Chief Investment Officer Gia Mai said.
The move to buy a third refinery marks a major turnaround for the Swiss trading house since its deep links with Moscow nearly brought it to collapse over 18 months ago.
