Cespa (Madrid, Spain) has agreed to sell its subsidiaries for butane, propane, and autogas (Gasib) to Abastible S.A., a subsidiary of the Chilean Empresas Copec group and a leader in the Liquefied Gas business in Latin America.
Under the agreement, Gasib will continue to offer its butane, propane and autogas products in the markets in which it operates (Spain and Portugal) under the Cepsa brand, maintaining synergies with the company for the production and distribution of these products at service stations.
According to Maarten Wetselaar, Cepsa’s CEO, “this transaction is another step in our strategy to become a benchmark in the energy transition, driving investments in sustainable energy such as green hydrogen and biofuels, businesses that we expect to represent more than half of our activity by 2030. Gasib’s integration into Abastible will allow it to continue growing within a leading company in the Liquefied Gas business, with investment and market development capacity on the Iberian Peninsula.”
This operation represents an important new investment for Abastible, for the first time in Europe, which places it within the top 10 globally in the Liquefied Gas business and strengthens its leadership in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In addition, creating a long-term relationship with a European energy leader like Cepsa represents a great opportunity to drive new energies and business models in all regions. Liquefied Gas is one of the main businesses in the energy sector for Empresas Copec, multinational natural resources and energy company, which at the end of last year had a workforce of 40,000 direct employees, sales of just over US$29 billion and EBITDA of US$2,303 million.
Gasib is the main player in the non regulated bottled liquefied gas business in Spain, and the second company in Iberian Peninsula in terms of market share. The company, which will maintain its management team with the change of shareholder, has 3.5 million bottled LPG customers and 17,000 bulk customers, a workforce of nearly 200 employees, 6 storage and filling plants, 2 storage plants, and over 200 third-party warehouses. This allows it to supply the entire Iberian market, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, with sales of nearly 240,000 tons a year.