Estonia, Good for Business, Mergers and take-overs, Oil, Port, Transport

Dutch company Royal Vopak N.V. and Russian terminal operator Global Ports Investments PLC announced the sale of all shares in Vopak E.O.S. to Abu Dhabi-based Liwathon in April.

While the value of the transaction was not disclosed at the time, Royal Vopak informed Euronext Amsterdam that it sold its 50% holding in E.O.S. for 16.4 mln euros.

Global Ports is scheduled to disclose its results for the first half of 2019 to the London stock exchange on Sept. 20. It is believed that both companies sold their stakes for an equal price.

"We have said repeatedly that we will not comment on the price," Liwathon CEO Gert Tiivas told LETA/BNS on Tuesday. He also said he couldn't comment in any way on the assumption that both Royal Vopak and Global Ports received an equal amount for their holdings.

Gild Corporate Finance in 2012 valued Vopak E.O.S. at 626 mln euros. In that year, the oil transit and storage operator earned a net profit of 48.7 mln euros on sales of 181.5 mln euros.

After Gunvor, the main supplier of the Estonian operation on Vopak, started shipping liquid cargoes directly via Russian ports the terminals situated at Muuga just outside Tallinn lost their role in the transit chain, transit and business expert Raivo Vare told Postimees in June.

He added that in the servicing of oil products the level of politicization is very high and amounts of transit are rather set to decline. 

As a result of changes in the business environment of the oil transit sector and Russian sanctions, Vopak E.O.S. made a net loss of 157 mln euros in 2016 and 2017 combined, mostly as a result of revaluation of assets.

Vopak E.O.S. finished 2018 with a loss of 872,000 euros on sales of 23.9 mln euros.

Starting from June, Liwathon E.O.S. is managed by Gert Tiivas, former manager of the Tallinn stock exchange and Starman, who took over from longtime manager Arnout Lugtmeijer. Tiivas also sits at the helm of Abu Dhabi-registered logistics and investment company Liwathon, a holding of Barclay Rowland.

Liwathon E.O.S. owns four oil terminals at Muuga with a combined capacity of 1.05 mln cubic meters: Termoil, Trendgate, Pakterminal and Stivterminal. It serves sea and rail transportation of oil products from Eastern Europe to Western Europe, America and Southeast Asia.