The Hungarian mineral oil and gas firm MOL acquires 417 petrol stations in Poland. The USD 610 million signed contract with Grupa Lotos SA and PKN Orlen makes MOL the third largest player in the Polish fuel retail market and establishes a retail presence in a 10th country.
With the transaction, MOL increases its portfolio from 1,943 to 2,390 filling stations. As part of the transaction, MOL also agreed to sell 185 its own petrol stations in Hungary and Slovakia to PKN Orlen for USD 259 million.
According to MOL, strategic considerations for the acquisition include further diversification and expansion in the region. Lotos not only has a particularly strong market position in the motorway service station segment, but also has the potential for further organic growth.
MOL also acquires Normbenz Magyarország Kft., which operates 79 petrol stations in Hungary under the Lukoil brand name. This follows an acquisition in March 2021 in which Slovnaft, the Slovakian subsidiary of MOL Group, acquired 100% of the shares in Normbenz Slovakia s.r.o. and acquired 16 Lukoil filling stations in Slovakia. According to MOL, the company operates its gas stations in the region under 5 brands, including the recently acquired 120 OMV gas stations in Slovenia.