Australia's refiner and retailer Ampol has received regulatory approval from the country's competition regulator to acquire UK-owned EG Australia in a cash-settled deal worth A$1.1bn ($780mn), it said today.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will allow the deal to proceed if Ampol divests 41 EG Australia fuel stations. The regulator has approved Dib Group, trading as Metro Petroleum, as the purchaser of these divestment sites.
The acquisition is expected to be completed on 30 June, subject to final regulatory requirements.
The regulator previously identified 115 EG fuel stations where the deal would raise competition concerns across Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, where Ampol's post-acquisition market share would have reached 21pc, 19pc, 20pc and 31pc respectively. Ampol had earlier planned to divest 19 retail fuel stations, but this was deemed insufficient to offset competition concerns.
Ampol expects the acquisition to generate targeted synergies of A$65mn-80mn per year and said the deal will strengthen its retail network and expand its higher-margin fuel and convenience business.
Total fuel sales volumes reached around 428,000 b/d in January–March, broadly stable compared with 6.14bn litres in the same quarter a year earlier, with retail volumes broadly unchanged while wholesale demand softened.
EFA support and MSO limitations
The approval comes as Ampol has been drawn into Australia's broader fuel security response following the outbreak of the US-Iran war in late February.
Government agency Export Finance Australia (EFA) first partnered with Ampol and Viva Energy in early April to underwrite spot-market fuel and crude oil purchases, enabling both refiners to secure cargoes that would otherwise be considered uncommercial due to volatile prices and high spot-market costs.
Under the scheme, the government retains the ability to prioritise regions facing tighter supply. EFA has since expanded beyond Ampol and Viva Energy to include smaller, regionally focused operators IOR and Park Fuels.
At the same time, Australia's minimum stockholding obligation (MSO) framework has not addressed access to fuel in regional areas. The MSO, which compels major importers to hold fuel stocks based on typical daily consumption, covers a limited group of large companies and does not extend to independent wholesalers that supply rural transport and farm businesses. These wholesalers have reported being unable to secure uncontracted supplies that are usually accessible, following the onset of the US-Iran conflict.
