Vopak has completed the sale of its 20% equity stake in the Bahamas Oil Refining Company International Limited (BORCO, also operating as Vopak Terminal Bahamas) to Buckeye Partners, L.P. (Buckeye). The transaction follows the earlier announcement by Vopak of 17 January 2011.
On request of Buckeye, the transfer of the terminal operatorship from Vopak to Buckeye has been accelerated. The original operating agreement expires by the end of April 2013, but it has been agreed by both companies that Buckeye will immediately take over full operational responsibility of the terminal. Vopak will provide transition services to Buckeye to facilitate a safe and professional handover for the BORCO customers.
The sale of Vopak’s 20% equity stake in BORCO generated an after-tax profit of over USD150 million. The after-tax profit includes, amongst others, the book profit on the sale of Vopak's 20% equity stake in BORCO and the incentive fees resulting, amongst others, from the sale by FRC of its 80% equity stake in BORCO to Buckeye. The actual future cash proceeds on the Buckeye Class B units and Buckeye LP units depend on the moment Vopak monetizes such units. The after-tax profit will be reported as an exceptional item in the Q1 2011 result. The cash proceeds of the sale will be allocated to fund Vopak’s global growth strategy.
Profile Vopak
Royal Vopak (Vopak) is the world’s largest independent tank terminal operator specialising in the storage and handling of liquid and gaseous chemical and oil products. On request, Vopak can provide complementary logistics services for customers at its terminals. Vopak operates 74 terminals with a storage capacity of more than 21 million cbm in 30 countries. The terminals are strategically located for users and the major shipping routes. The majority of its customers are companies operating in the chemical and oil industries, for which Vopak stores a large variety of products destined for a wide range of industries.