Rubis to retain Gulf Energy staff after acquisition gets nod

French oil major Rubis Energie will retain all 102 workers for at least two years after acquiring oil marketer Gulf Energy Holdings following approval of the deal by Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK).

This is one of the stringent conditions set by the competitions watchdog that also barred Rubis from reducing salaries and employment benefits of the Gulf Energy workers.

The approval comes three months after the French multinational declared the buyout plans that will effectively see it overtake Total Kenya as the leading oil marketer in the country.

Under the deal, Rubis will acquire the entire issued share of capital of Gulf Energy through its Kenyan subsidiary KenolKobil.

“The Authority approved the proposed acquisition of control of Gulf Energy Holdings Limited by KenolKobil Plc on condition that for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of implementation of the proposed transaction, the merged entity shall not declare any target’s 102 employees redundant,” CAK said Tuesday morning.

Following the acquisition, Rubis will now become the leading oil marketer with a combined market share of 21.2 percent, surpassing market leader Total that had a market share of 16.4 percent according to industry data for the quarter ended June 2019.

CAK also ordered the merged entity to honour all contractual agreements that Gulf Energy had signed with retail station dealers across the country.

Rubis will also take over the over Gulf Energy's gas stations, commercial contracts for supplying power plants and large industrial consumers, aviation fuels, LPG and lubricants.

The French firm entered the Kenyan market in March last year after buying off 1.182 billion ordinary shares held by KenolKobil former owners worth Sh26.35 billion, a deal that resulted in delisting of the firm from the Nairobi Securities Exchange #ticker:NSE.