BP Australia has decided not to continue with its $1.8-billion (Aus.) purchase of retail giant Woolworths retail outlets across Australia.
The British major agreed in December 2016 to buy Woolworths’ 543 fuel and convenience stores, which would have seen it become as the market leader in Australia (OGJ Online, Dec. 28, 2016).
Woolworths had previously been supplied by Caltex Australia, a company which was also in talks to buy the outlets outright.
In August 2017 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission through a spanner in the works when it blocked the BP purchase, saying the sale would reduce competition and jack up fuel prices. This move by the ACCC came despite BP offering to sell many stores to allay competition concerns.
At that stage BP and Woolworths vowed to continue negotiations and accused the ACCC of a flawed assessment of the fuel market. There was even talk of taking the ACCC to court over the matter.
This week, however, Woolworths announced that it had been notified that BP would not continue with the proposed purchase.
Woolworths added that it intended to pursue alternative options for its fuel business. The company is keen to offload the fuel outlets to provide funds for its ongoing supermarket battle with Coles.
There are other interested parties, Australian and international, but no firm offers at this stage.
Meantime, Caltex continues to supply fuels to Woolworths under the earlier agreement.