By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Jan. 2 -- Valero Energy Corp. and Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. completed their $6 billion merger at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31, making the combined firm one of the three largest US refiners.
Valero has not yet sold its 161,000 b/d Golden Eagle refinery in California and 70 associated Beacon and Ultramar-branded retail sites throughout northern California, as required for US Federal Trade Commission approval of the merger, but has 12 months to do so (OGJ Online, Dec. 19, 2001).
Bill Greehey, Valero's chairman and CEO, said, "We completed this merger in record time - only 7 months - and without any layoffs."
Valero has 12 refineries with capacity of nearly 2 million b/d. It will operate more than 5,000 retail outlets in the US and Canada. Valero also acquired a 4,600-mile pipeline network and Shamrock Logistics LP, which has been renamed Valero LP.
The combined company, based in San Antonio, Tex., has more than 20,000 employees in the US and Canada. Valero, with assets of $14 billion, expects revenues of $32 billion/year.
