Essar sees a favorable UK forecourt outlook driven by demographic growth, more multi-car households, and a shrinking number of forecourts, underpinning the deal’s strategic rationale.

EET Retail disclosed the deal, with CEO Arvan Ruia and Head of Strategic Transactions Viral Gathani highlighting a back-integrated growth model.

The purchase price was not disclosed, but sources estimate SGN Retail’s value at around 400 million pounds.

The broader strategy centers on reorganizing fuel production and distribution to reduce inefficiencies and capitalize on demographic trends and sector consolidation.

The acquisition aligns with EET’s aim to reconnect fuel production with retail distribution amid a fragmented UK market and refinery closures.

Stanlow refinery processes about 200,000 barrels per day and underpins the expanded network’s supply chain.

Essar Group’s fuel-station arm, EET Retail, has agreed to buy SGN Retail, expanding its UK forecourt network to 235 sites.

EET Retail plans to disrupt the market by routing Stanlow-refined fuel directly to its forecourts, creating a vertically integrated platform to bolster domestic supply security and lower pump costs.

The SGN sites will be supplied from EET’s Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, linking production and retail under one umbrella.

Funding for the acquisition will come from cash plus a 250 million pound senior debt facility, arranged by a banking syndicate that includes First Abu Dhabi Bank, Macquarie, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, SMBC and others.

RBC Capital Markets acted as financial adviser for the deal and the financing package was arranged through a consortium of lenders, including Natixis, OakNorth, Sound Point Capital, and others.