Crossbridge, all on the US fund that focuses on Priolo’s Lukoil
Here are the top management and business of Crossbridge Energy Partners, the American fund that could buy the Lukoil Isab refinery. All the details
The US investment fund Crossbridge Energy Partners is interested in acquiring the ISAB refining plant in Priolo Gargallo, Sicily.
RELATIONS BETWEEN ISAB, LUKOIL AND THE KREMLIN
ISAB (Industria Siciliana Asfalti e Bitumi) a company owned by Lukoil, the second largest oil company in Russia : it is not formally a state company – unlike the gas giant Gazprom – but its CEO, Vagit Alekperov, is very near the Kremlin.
THE EUROPEAN OIL EMBARGO AND THE DRAGHI GOVERNMENT LINE
The Financial Times , which broke the news yesterday, writes that Italy would like to avoid the nationalization of the refinery. Once the European ban on the purchase of oil by ship from Russia comes into force in December, the plant will lose access to Lukoil's crude. Selling to a non-Russian entity would allow ISAB to seek out other suppliers.
The decision of Mario Draghi's government not to nationalize the company – the Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, said precisely that the best solution would have been the sale to a non-Russian private individual – could however be reviewed by the executive that will be formed afterwards. the elections of 25 September.
HOW MUCH ISAB MATTERS
Inserted in an important petrochemical center, ISAB is very relevant both at a regional and national level: it is worth 22 percent of the Italian refining capacity and satisfies 20 percent of Sicilian electricity demand. It has over a thousand employees and supports about two thousand indirect jobs in the Syracuse area.
THE INTEREST OF VITOL AND EQUINOR
This week the new president of ISAB, Rustem Gimaletdinov, assured that the company is not for sale. But several parties have shown interest in buying it, according to the Financial Times : not only Crossbridge Energy Partners, the main one, but also Vitol (the largest oil trading company in the world) and the Norwegian state energy company Equinor. None of them have made any comments.
WHAT THE MiSE (NOT) SAID
In general, foreign companies prefer not to negotiate directly with Russian counterparties due to possible reputational damage, and would like the Italian government to act as an intermediary. However, the Ministry of Economic Development has specified that it is not involved in the sales negotiations or that it has competences in this regard, as these are discussions between individuals.
ALL ABOUT CROSSBRIDGE ENERGY PARTNERS
The Financial Times writes that Crossbridge Energy Partners took twelve days to carry out due diligence (i.e. the activities of analyzing data and various information during a negotiation) at the ISAB refinery in Lukoil. Last year he bought an old Shell refinery in Denmark.
WHO ARE THE TOP OF CROSSBRIDGE
Crossbridge Energy Partners is a private equity fund linked to the investment company Postlane Capital Partners, based in New York. The managing director is Nicholas Myerson (in the past he worked in the refining and waste oil treatment sector); the chief financial officer is Wade Adkins.
THE CROSSBRIDGE BUSINESS
Crossbridge invests in conventional energy infrastructures but suitable for conversion into plants consistent with the ecological transition: in refineries, for example, but also in waste oil recycling plants and in technologies for biofuels and green hydrogen.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/crossbridge-isab-lukoil-priolo/ on Wed, 21 Sep 2022 08:10:32 +0000.