ALASDAIR Locke, the former Aberdeen oil services tycoon, has led a £500 million management buyout of independent petrol station chain Motor Fuel Group from owners Patron Capital Partners, supported by global private equity giant Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
Mr Locke, who sold his oil and gas services Abbot for over £900m in 2007, is also the main investor in Dundee's Unicorn Property Group and chair of the V&A Dundee fund-raising campaign. He will continue to chair MFG, with the added support of CD&R adviser and former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy, who joins the board of the fast-growing fuel and convenience goods retailer.
MFG was acquired by property investment group Patron in 2011, who led a series of strategic acquisitions that have transformed the group into the number two independent petrol and convenience retailer in the UK.
With 48 sites at the time of acquisition by Patron, MFG now has 373, plus a dealer network of more than 200 sites. The group generated over £1bn of sales in 2014 and its profit growth has been ranked amongst the highest by a private UK company.
Outlets operate under the BP, Shell, Texaco and Jet brands and have retail partnerships with Costcutter and Costa Coffee.
Stephen Green, senior partner at Patron, commented: "We have been delighted with our investment in MFG. Together with the management team and Alasdair Locke, we have succeeded in taking a complex property-backed business, driving operational efficiencies and rapidly transforming the Company into a stable, profitable operating platform with potential for future growth."
CD&R Partner David Novak said: "Alasdair Locke and the strong MFG management team have created a valuable portfolio of petrol and convenience retail outlets which we intend to further enhance and expand."
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