DUBLIN, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Irish business services group DCC Plc
said on Friday it would buy Chevron's UK oil distribution business for
27.52 million euros ($41 million), in a move analysts saw as an attractive way
of boosting earnings.
DCC said the Chevron distributor, which trades under the Texaco brand, sells
about 1 billion litres of oil per year in England and Wales. DCC's British unit
GB Oils has sales of 3.2 billion litres, giving it a market share of 10 percent.
"The acquisition of the Texaco distribution business will bring significant
further scale to DCC's oil distribution business in Britain and is consistent
with our strategy of growing our presence in this market," DCC Chief Executive
Tommy Breen said in a statement.
Analysts said the deal would continue DCC's track record of acquisitions
with solid returns.
Davy analyst David Jennings said the deal would give DCC 26 new trading
locations, mainly in southern England and Wales, where its presence had been
limited.
"It brings further scale to DCC's oil distribution business," he said,
estimating the deal should add about 2 percent to group earnings in the 2010
fiscal year.
Shares in DCC, whose interests range from oil, computer games and muesli to
recycling and cosmetics, traded 0.64 percent higher by 0742 GMT at 15.562 euros,
underperforming a 1.1 percent higher wider Irish market <.ISEQ>.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Paul Bolding and Quentin Webb)
($1=.6707 Euro) Keywords: DCC/CHEVRON
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