The owners of The Bend Motorsport Park, the Shahin family, have entered into a deal with Viva Energy to sell its service station empire for $1.15 billion.
Viva Energy’s acquisition of OTR Group from the Shahin family-owned Peregrine Corporation, South Australia’s largest private company, opens the door to a retail network which generates over $3 billion in annual revenue, employing over 6000 people.
The acquisition (thankfully) doesn’t include The Bend Motorsport Park, but includes fuel stations, a lubricants business and tobacco stores.
According to the Australian Financial Review, OTR’s stores generate an average of $3.9 million in sales per year, significantly more than the $1.6 million average of Coles Express, which Viva acquired full ownership of through a $300 million deal in September.
Speaking with ABC Radio Adelaide, OTR founder Yasser Shahin said that the deal is still subject to regulatory approval and that if approved, the Shahin family would be the biggest shareholder in Viva Energy and that he would stay on to help run it.
“When that process is done and we’ve got clearance, the deal will close and we’ll be on our way to making OTR the national brand it deserves to be,” he said.
“The intention and the reason behind this deal is to replace what is now the Coles Express brand in 700-plus Shell sites and replace that with OTR,” he said.
“It’s been a wonderful journey and it’s awesome to have built this all from Adelaide.”
The family’s $100 million race track at Tailem Bend, around an hour from Adelaide, includes a 7.77km race track, a hotel, an off-road facility, a drift course and a $30m drag strip is currently under construction.
