Motor Fuel Group owners eyeing £5bn sale of petrol forecourts giant
MFG, which is owned by the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), has invited investment banks to pitch for a mandate to sell the company, which trades from roughly 900 sites across the UK, according to Sky News.
MFG said recently that it would spend £50m this year on installing 350 rapid vehicle chargers across its estate.
The company has grown substantially since CD&R bought it in 2015 from Patron Capital Partners in a deal worth about £500m.
Three years later, it paid £1.2bn to add market leader MRH, creating a group operating under fuel brands such as BP, Esso, Shell and Texaco.
Profits are understood to have risen approximately tenfold since CD&R’s original acquisition of MFG.
The company has invested heavily in its convenience retailing proposition, featuring the likes of Costa Coffee, Greggs and Subway at many of its sites.
The CD&R-owned company competes with supermarket-owned fuel chains, as well as the likes of EG Group, which is owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa in conjunction with TDR Capital.
MFG’s increased focus on electrification may appeal to infrastructure investors who could seek to partner with each other to bid for the company, according to banking sources.
A deal could also attract interest from oil companies attempting to harness the global energy transition, they added.
MFG is run by William Bannister, who acquired the business in 2011 through a management buy-in, while it is chaired by Alasdair Locke, a serial entrepreneur in the energy industry.
