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Vitol drops plan to acquire Gupta firm’s coal terminal stake
The world’s largest independent oil trader dumps deal to purchase a stake in Richards Bay Coal Terminal
Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent oil trader, walked away from a deal to buy a stake in the Richards Bay Coal Terminal from a company controlled by SA’s Gupta family. "The consortium comprising Vitol and Burgh Group Holdings will not be proceeding with the acquisition," the commodities trading house said on Monday. The proposed deal, first reported in September 2016, would have seen Vitol and SA’s Burgh Group acquire Optimum Coal Terminal from the Guptas’ Tegeta Exploration and Resources. It would have given the consortium a 7.61% stake in Richards Bay and rights to ship about 8-million tonnes of the fuel from SA annually. The Guptas are friends with President Jacob Zuma. In December 2015 the family, along with Zuma’s son, Duduzane, bought Optimum through Tegeta for R2.15bn from miner and trading house Glencore. The purchase would have given Vitol, which handles more than 7-million barrels of oil a day and more than 30-million tonnes of coal annually, access to a key expo...
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