Chevron, which owns V.I. Texaco gas stations, announced Thursday it will sell its fuels, marketing and aviation businesses in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to Puma Energy Puerto Rico Holding LLC, a subsidiary of Puma Energy International.
Alex Valderrama at Chevron in Puerto Rico said the Texaco stations will eventually carry the Puma name.
The company is a midstream and downstream oil company active in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, North East Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Midstream refers to companies that process, store, market, and transports oil. Downstream includes companies that refine, sell and distribute oil.
“This sale is part of our ongoing effort to restructure our global downstream portfolio and deliver strong returns for our investors,” Glenn Johnson, Chevron’s general manager for downstream Caribbean, said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter 2012 following receipt of required regulatory and government approvals.
Both companies agreed not to release the financial details of the transaction.
Under the terms of the agreement, Puma will acquire a network of 197 service stations, one aviation facility and one import terminal.
According to a press release on the Puma website, Chevron’s businesses in both markets include 185 retail stations in Puerto Rico, seven retail stations in the Virgin Islands, an aviation fuel supply business in the Virgin Islands, and storage terminals at Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.
Its press release indicates that Puma Energy plans to launch a multimillion dollar investment program once this deal is approved by the regulatory authorities to ensure that the newly acquired facilities are successfully integrated into the company’s fast-growing operations.
“This deal further confirms Puma Energy’s long-term commitment to Puerto Rico and our standing as one of the region’s largest investors,” Victor Dominguez, general manager of Puma Energy Caribe, said.
He said that by acquiring Chevron’s businesses, the company will seek to achieve greater operational efficiencies and improving its ability to provide high quality, competitively priced fuel to its customers.
This acquisition marks the end of a successful year for Puma Energy in the region. In December 2010, the company agreed to purchase CAPECO’s retail and storage network in Puerto Rico. In addition, in April 2011 Puma Energy agreed to acquire ExxonMobil’s fuels marketing and supply businesses in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
“Taken as a whole, our investments will provide a significant economic boosts and lead to job creation while providing improved levels of service to clients, consumers and communities alike,” Dominguez said.
