A consortium including Indonesia’s PT Chandra Asri Pacific and Glencore Plc is in advanced talks to buy Shell Plc assets in Singapore in a deal that could be worth about $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Details of the transaction the parties are working on, will be announced soon as gotten from bloomberg. Shell’s Singapore assets include a refinery capable of processing 237,000 barrels of oil a day, a facility on Jurong Island that produces monoethylene glycol and an ethylene plant on Pulau Bukom.
According to unidentified sources, under the conditions of the deal, Chandra Asri will become the operator and majority owner of the asset, while Glencore, will have a non-operating minority stake. Other bidders remain interested in the deal and it is uncertain that the talks will lead to a deal, the sources said.
Representatives from Chandra Asri and Glencore refused to comment. Shell representatives also declined to comment on statements that the priority is to divest the Bukom and Jurong assets following a strategic review.
Singapore remains a strategic trade and marketing hub in the region, according to sources.
Last year, Shell began investigation into its Bukom and Jurong islands. The company’s Bukom facility according to a report by Wood Mackenzie analyst in September, is “by far the weakest integrated refinery petrochemical site” in its potfolio.
