Poland’s state-owned refiner PKN Orlen announced Wednesday plans to sell oil assets to Saudi Aramco and Hungary’s MOL in order to meet EU conditions for its merger with domestic rival Grupa Lotos.
Saudi Aramco will buy a stake in Lotos’s refinery and MOL will purchase several hundred Lotos petrol stations to fulfil the conditions.
“This is a historic moment… We’re forming the strongest fuel and energy group in this part of Europe,” PKN Orlen chief executive Daniel Obajtek tweeted.
“The merger of PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos is a tremendous opportunity for Polish development,” he added.
The takeover plan was announced in 2018 but Orlen had to first address competition concerns raised by the European Commission.
The terms set by the commission involved agreeing to sell off certain Lotos assets.
The Lotos takeover is part of a wider plan to turn Orlen into an entity with enough clout to compete in the international arena.
Orlen has already taken over Polish utility company Energa and also plans to buy PGNiG, the largest gas company in the country.
