Dubai’s state energy firm and Petromin Corp. of Saudi Arabia are taking on the likes of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company by entering the bidding race for the first Egyptian army company being offered to investors, sources told Bloomberg on June 3rd.
Whichever company wins would partner with Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund in taking joint full ownership of Wataniya Petroleum.
Petromin has had a presence in the Arab world’s most populous nation via an Egyptian subsidiary since 1992, marketing petroleum products, oils and greases.
In April, an alliance of UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ) announced a plan to acquire Wataniya Petroleum Company, the military fuelling station chain.
In February, Egypt’s Ministry of Defense selected the Sovereign Fund of Egypt to sell Wataniya Petroleum.
The step comes along with the ministry’s new strategy to sell part of a portfolio of companies in what would be the country’s first spin-off of companies owned by the military.
The sovereign fund will sell 80%-90% of the National Service Projects Organization’s (NSPO) Wataniya, keeping a 10%-20% stake for itself.
Wataniya controls about 200 fuelling stations, and mineral water bottler Safi will be the first companies owned by the military’s NSPO.
