Patron Capital has bought Motor Fuels Group in a joint venture with a new management team backed by oil industry veteran Alasdair Locke.
MFG owns and operates 58 mostly freehold petrol filling stations and associated convenience retailing stores throughout the UK. It is the fifth-largest chain of independent petrol filling stations in the country.
Patron, the pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments, provided most of the equity for the transaction alongside Alasdair Locke and members of the management team.
Debt finance was provided by Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance, part of Investec Bank. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The board of MFG now comprises forecourt sector investors William Bannister and Tom Biggart of Scottish Capital Group in the posts of chief executive and chief investment respectively.
Alasdair Locke and Tim Allan of Scottish Capital Group have assumed the roles of non-executive chairman and director respectively.
In addition, to support Patron Capital and the MFG management team’s plans to expand the business via capital expenditure and acquisitions, MFG has agreed to hire Jeremy Clarke as its managing director.
Clarke will join MFG once he has fulfilled his contractual obligations to Murco UK as its marketing director.
Stephen Green, Patron Capital’s senior partner, special situations, said: “This transaction is an excellent example of the real estate-backed operating business investments that Patron Capital seeks, with significant opportunities for growth in a fragmented and consolidating sector.”
Locke said: “With the experienced management team we have assembled and the powerful backing of Patron Capital and Investec Bank, we are confident that we will significantly expand the size and performance of MFG over the coming years.”
Bannister added: “MFG is a great business that we see forming a sound platform for significant expansion in the UK fuel forecourt sector. These are challenging times but I am sure that with the strong financial backing we enjoy and with our new, high-calibre management team, we have a combination that has tremendous potential.”
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
