“The State Property Fund of Ukraine will face difficulties in trying to sell its 49% stake in the company “Alliance Holding”, which is the owner of the Shell network in Ukraine. ”, — write: www.epravda.com.ua
The State Property Fund of Ukraine will face difficulties in trying to sell its 49% stake in the company “Alliance Holding”, which is the owner of the Shell network in Ukraine.
This is the opinion on his Facebook page expressed Serhii Kuyun, director of the “A-95” Consulting Group.
“In my opinion, the chances of FDM selling this asset are currently minimal,” he believes.
In particular, he noted that the price of one gas station can vary from $800,000 to $1 million, which in total is about $105-132 million for 132 gas stations. At the same time, Shell announced an investment of $460 million in its business in Ukraine.
In addition, in his opinion, the problem lies not only in the price, but also in the state of the market in the conditions of war. According to him, about 10% of the network is no longer working because of the danger to personnel.
“It is not known what the final price could be,” Kuyun writes.
In his view, the outlook will ultimately depend on Shell’s decision, and it appears doubtful.
“The company has not had a profit for a long time, its sales barely make ends meet. And sales are low, because, on the one hand, the network frankly does not have time in marketing for the civilized part of the Ukrainian market and is unable to compete on price with the uncivilized part due to strict compliance with all norms and full payment of taxes,” Kuyun notes.
The expert considers the unviability of joint projects in Ukraine to be another feature of the situation, which reduces market interest in this package.
“In other words, we have a cool suitcase without a handle. A lot of money and effort has been invested, it’s a shame to throw it away, and it’s difficult to carry it further. Either Shell will dare to buy the package from the Federal State University of Ukraine, or it will decide to sell its own,” Kuyun summarized.
We will remind:
The state property fund officially at the end of October 2024 pond the owner of 49% of the authorized capital of “Alliance Holding” LLC, which manages the chain of Shell gas stations in Ukraine.
This share previously belonged to Russian Eduard Khudainatov, who was sanctioned after the start of a full-scale war.
According to the decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court, his Ukrainian assets, in particular the share in Alliance Holding, were seized as state income.
In compliance with this decision, the previous owners of Alliance Holding LLC – Cicerone Holding BV and Bogstone Holding BV – were removed from the list of company founders, and a new ownership structure was approved:
- Shell Overseas Investments BV – 51%;
- The State Property Fund of Ukraine – 49%.
Shell previously reported that after the start of the full-scale war, Khudainatov’s stake in LLC “Alliance Holding” decreased to 2.56%, and Shell’s indirect stake increased to 97.44%.