Deals
Vitol Plan to Buy Tegeta Coal Terminal Stake May Be Thwarted
- Shareholders said to have premptive rights on export facility
- Purchase would bolster Vitol presence in South African coal
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Vitol Group’s plans to buy a stake in Africa’s biggest coal terminal from a company controlled by South Africa’s Gupta family, who are friends of President Jacob Zuma, could be thwarted by the preemptive rights held by existing shareholders in the export facility, people familiar with the matter said.
Buying the stake in the Richards Bay facility from Optimum Coal Holdings Ltd. would give Geneva-based Vitol rights to ship about 8 million metric tons of the fuel from South Africa annually, strengthening its position in the coal trade in a country that’s a key supplier to India and China. The Swiss commodities trader is interested in buying the stake, a person with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.