World to buy Western


The US' largest independently owned petroleum marketing companies, has been bought by a subisdiary of World Fuel Services Inc.

17_world-fuel-logo - Peter B - peterbWestern Petroleum Company, which last year marketed more than 500m gallons of gasoline and diesel, and some 100m gallons of branded aviation fuel, has been acquired by World Fuel Services Corp.

The deal, worth between $95m and $115m, was described by World Fuel Service Corp's President, Michael J. Kasbar as: "another significant step in the continued evolution of our land based fuel business and their branded aviation fuel distribution business will further expand the breadth of our general aviation business."

Western's President, Richard S. Neville, saw the deal as a chance to take advantage of World's market scale to offer products and services to a wider range of customer s and suppliers.

The mainly cash-based deal, with some stock options, is expected to be completed in the next 60 days.