Race for BPCL! Vedanta, Apollo Global, I Squared Capital arm Think Gas in race - Who will win? TOP DEVELOPMENTS so far

BPCL NEWS: Last week, an inter-ministerial meet was held to discuss the BPCL valuation process and setting of the reserve price. Now, it has been reported that a high-powered committee will on Tuesday evaluate preliminary bids received from mining-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta and private equity firms Apollo Global and I Squared Capital's arm Think Gas for buying the government's 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL. On Tuesday, the panel will see transaction advisor Deloitte's report on the scrutiny of the three bids that were received at the close of bidding last month, as per a report by news agency PTI.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the parent ministry of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), has been asked to give its views on the response and the process so far.

Vedanta vs Apollo Global vs I Squared Capital arm Think Gas

- A special purpose vehicle floated by the BSE-listed Vedanta Ltd and its London-based parent Vedanta Resources submitted an expression of interest (EoI) before the close of deadline on November 16.

- While I Squared Capital is a private equity firm focusing on global infrastructure investments, New York-based Apollo Global Management, Inc is a global alternative investment manager firm.

-I Squared Capital invests in energy, utilities, transport and telecom projects in North America, Europe and select high growth economies such as India and China.

BPCL stake sale

- The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in India's second largest fuel retailer as part of plans to raise a record Rs 2.1 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds in 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021).

- But share price of BPCL has plunged by nearly a fifth since the time the strategic sale was approved in November last year.

- At Monday's closing price of Rs 405.75 on BSE, the government's 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL is worth just over Rs 46,600 crore. Also, the acquirer would have to make an open offer for buying another 26 per cent stake from the public, which would cost about Rs 22,800 crore.

- BPCL will give the buyer ownership of around 15.33 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share.

BPCL

-BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala), Bina (Madhya Pradesh), and Numaligarh (Assam) with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tonnes per annum, which is 15.3 per cent of India's total refining capacity of 249.8 million tonnes.

- While the Numaligarh refinery will be carved out of BPCL and sold to a PSU, the new buyer of the company will get 35.3 million tonnes of refining capacity -- 12 million tonne Mumbai unit, 15.5 million tonne Kochi refinery and 7.8 million tonne Bina unit.

- It also owns 17,355 petrol pumps, 6,159 LPG distributor agencies and 61 out of 256 aviation fuel stations in the country.

- BPCL is India's second-largest oil marketing company with a standalone domestic sales volume of over 43.10 million tonnes and a market share of 22 per cent during FY20. It is India's sixth largest company by turnover.

- Its petrol pumps sell more fuel than the industry average -- BPCL pumps sell 124 kilolitres per month as compared to the industry average of 116, according to the company website.

- The firm also has upstream presence with 26 assets in nine countries such as Russia, Brazil, Mozambique, the UAE, Indonesia, Australia, East Timor, Israel and India. It is also making a foray into city gas distribution and has licences for 37 geographical areas (GAs).