Azerbaijan's SOCAR signs deal to buy refiner Italiana Petroli

By Nailia Bagirova and Francesca Landini

BAKU (Reuters) -Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR agreed on Tuesday to buy Italiana Petroli, securing control of one of Italy's largest petrol station networks, a Reuters witness reported from the signing ceremony.

The event took place during the international investment forum in Baku and confirmed what sources told Reuters last week, without giving financial details of the deal.

People close to the matter previously told Reuters that the seller, Italy's Brachetti Peretti family, was seeking an enterprise value of around 2.5 billion euros ($2.95 billion) for IP.

The deal will help Azerbaijan to diversify its presence in Europe, a region it already serves as a natural gas supplier.

"This acquisition represents a significant milestone in expanding SOCAR's presence in the European energy market and reflects its commitment to strengthening bilateral economic and energy relations between Azerbaijan and Italy," SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf said in a statement.

IP will change ownership more than 90 years after it was founded by the late entrepreneur Ferdinando Peretti.

"IP is and remains a point of reference in the fuels sector at national level and a fundamental player for mobility and energy security in Italy," IP Chairman Ugo Brachetti Peretti said.

IP has more than 4,500 fuel stations and two refineries with a combined capacity of around 10 million tons per year. It also sells products such as bitumen, jet fuel, and lubricants, and has a logistics system covering its home country.

The company will now enter an interim period that will last several months while the required regulatory approvals are sought, IP director for corporate development and M&A Leonardo Caputo, who negotiated the deal for the seller, told Reuters.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of next year.

SOCAR was advised by Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo IMI CIB, while UniCredit advised IP's owner.

($1 = 0.8478 euros)

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova in Baku and Francesca Landini in Milan. Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Francesca Landini. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)