Swiss energy company Oryx Energies has changed hands in a management buyout valued at about $1 billion, transferring control of the Africa-focused fuel trading and distribution business to members of its existing management team.
- Oryx Energies, a Swiss energy company focused on Africa, was acquired by its management team in a deal valued at approximately $1 billion.
- Chief executive Moussa Diao and trading manager Hervé Bouvet bought the majority stake from founder Jean-Claude Gandur.
- The company has significant infrastructure, including 410 service stations, over 890,000 cubic metres of storage, and key terminals, particularly in West Africa.
- The management buyout occurs amid rising global fuel prices, but leaves control of Oryx Energies with leaders who have long managed its operations.
Chief executive Moussa Diao and trading manager Hervé Bouvet acquired a majority stake in Oryx Energies from founder Jean-Claude Gandur, Bloomberg reported.
The deal shifts Oryx from founder-led ownership to management control at a time when several African economies are contending with higher fuel costs and renewed volatility in global oil markets.
Before the transaction, Oryx Energies was majority-owned by AOG, the private investment group founded by Gandur and three partners in 1987.
The business initially focused on Africa before expanding from oil trading into storage, distribution and exploration, with its trading and downstream operations later consolidated under the Oryx Energies brand in 2013.
The buyout places ownership with executives already central to Oryx Energies. Diao, son of Senegalese oil and gas figure Abdoulaye “Baba” Diao, has spent more than two decades at the company before rising to chief executive, while Hervé Bouvet has held senior roles in Addax Energy, the group’s trading arm.
When Diao became chief executive in 2019, he said: “I am pleased to take on this challenge and to continue asserting Oryx Energies’ position as one of Africa’s prominent providers of oil and gas products and services in my continent of origin.”
Oryx’s African footprint
Oryx Energies operates across Africa’s downstream energy market through fuel imports, storage, distribution and retail, with a portfolio spanning petrol, diesel, LPG, lubricants and marine fuels.
The company says it operates in more than 30 African countries, employs over 1,800 people and sells about 9.44 million tonnes of petroleum products annually. Its infrastructure includes more than 410 service stations, over 890,000 cubic metres of storage capacity and 11 key terminals.
In West Africa, Oryx has operations across Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mauritania, supported by facilities such as its Bargny terminal in Senegal.
Tiemtoré’s failed bid
The Africa Report had earlier reported that American-Burkinabé financier Simon Tiemtoré sought to acquire Oryx Energies through Lilium Capital Group before the management buyout.
The proposed transaction would have given Tiemtoré control of about 400 service stations, alongside Oryx’s corporate fuel, LPG and lubricants businesses.
However, the negotiations ultimately collapsed, ending his attempt to secure a major position in Africa’s downstream fuel distribution market.
Tiemtoré’s failed Oryx bid followed an earlier unsuccessful attempt to acquire a 61.4% stake in Oragroup, whose banking network spanned 12 West and Central African countries and held about $7.7 billion in assets at the end of 2022.
Had the transaction gone through, Vista Group and Oragroup would have formed a banking group operating across 16 countries with more than $10 billion in assets.
Deal comes amid fuel-price pressure
Meanwhile, the management buyout comes amid renewed volatility in global oil and refined-product markets, as conflict in the Middle East continues to put pressure on fuel prices across several African economies that rely heavily on imports.
Unlike the earlier proposed sale to Lilium Capital, the completed deal keeps Oryx under the control of executives who already oversee its trading and downstream operations across the continent.