OTI acquires 40 per cent of Hass

Oman Trading International (OTI), the international trading arm of Oman Oil Company (OCI), has signed an agreement to acquire 40 per cent of Hass Petroleum Group, a leading oil marketing company with a significant presence across Eastern, Central and Horn of Africa (African Markets).

OTI will provide its supply and trading capabilities to strengthen the Hass service offering, enhance services to consumers and contribute to economic growth across the region.

In turn, Hass will enhance OTI’s market access to the African Markets. The Hass founder and management team will continue to operate the business and work closely with OTI to grow and maintain long-standing relationships with customers, suppliers and regulators.

This acquisition is in line with the respective companies’ long term strategies. OTI’s strategic priority of accelerating its growth by entering emerging markets with strong growth potential which ties closely to Hass’s aspiration of being Africa’s leading oil marketing company. As a regular supplier of refined products to the Southern and East African region, this transaction will enable OTI and Hass to strengthen their businesses.

The completion of the transaction remains subject to, inter alia, approval by the relevant authorities.

Talal Hamid al Awfi, CEO of OTI, commented, “We are delighted to move onto the next phase of growth for OTI, agreeing our first major investment into Africa with Hass. Hass is a unique business with substantial scale and growth potential, where we enjoy a long-standing relationship and most importantly share a common understanding and vision of the African energy market.”

Abdinasir Ali Hassan, Chairman and founder of Hass, stated: “I am delighted to agree this transaction with OTI. I am convinced that this transaction is a major step in ensuring Hass’s continued competitiveness across the region and I am confident that with OTI, we can achieve our mutual long-term growth aspirations.”

Standard Advisory London Limited, a member of the Standard Bank Group, acted as exclusive financial adviser to OTI and KPMG Advisory Services Ltd Kenya acted as exclusive financial adviser to Hass.