Oil giant Shell has announced the sale of 158 service stations in deals with two of the UK’s leading forecourt operators.
St Albans-based Motor Fuel Group is picking up 90 sites with another 68 going to Blackburn-based Euro Garages, which already has a relationship with Shell.
Handover of the service stations will take place by the end of the year, with the dealers continuing to use the Shell brand as well as its fuels for five years following the sale.
Shell, which has more than 1,000 branded UK service stations, is also in talks over the sale of another 27 sites as it looks to reduce the number of company-owned service stations to around 550.
Euro Garages has 180 freehold-owned sites predominantly located across the North West, North East, Yorkshire, Midlands and Wales. They include brand partnerships with BP, ESSO, Shell and SPAR.
It is also in the process of buying 104 ESSO branded sites following a deal last month.
Motor Fuel Group has 284 stations which operate under the BP, JET and Texaco fuel brands.
Its managing director Jeremy Clarke said: “This acquisition gives us 90 high volume, quality stations that reinforce our commitment to become one of the most dynamic and profitable independent forecourt operators in the UK.
“We are looking forward to working with Shell to maximise the potential of these sites to the benefit of our customers.”
