1 October 2012

Sinopec Kantons purchases 50% stake in Vesta Terminals

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has advised one of the world’s top refineries, Sinopec, on acquiring a 50% stake in Mercuria’s terminals business. Sinopec Kantons Holdings, a unit of state-owned Sinopec, formed a joint venture with Mercuria, the fifth-largest independent oil trader, and purchased 50% of the latter’s Vesta Terminals for EUR 128.6 million.

Vesta Terminals is a leading independent liquid bulk storage operator in Europe with a total of approximately 1.6 million cubic meters of petroleum products and biofuels capacity at three terminals in Antwerp, Flushing and Tallinn.​ The deal valued the terminals business at EUR 442 million. The purchase is the first major move by a Chinese state-owned enterprise into the European oil storage market. De Brauw worked alongside Vinson & Elkins, who acted as lead counsel to Sinopec.

Team: London: Ernest Meyer Swantée, Elmer Veenman; RE: Etiënne Dijkhorst, Maarten Tinnemans; Tax: Henk van Ravenhorst; C&R: Iris Kieft; EEB: Barbara van Duren-Kloppert, Willemijne Adank.​