Fuel retailer MOL Group has divested 39 service stations to Shell in Slovenia, as part of its takeover of OMV Slovenija.
The group said that it was divesting the stores in order to gain competition approval from the European Commission regarding the OMV takeover, which would strengthen its position in the Slovenian market, where it has had a presence for 25 years.
In a statement, the group said that it has 'strong ambitions' to become the 'first choice' for customers in Slovenia, offering coffee, hot dogs and everyday purchases as well as fuel.
The group sells some 27 million hot dogs per year across its network of 1,184 stores in Central and South Eastern Europe, as well as 53 million cups of coffee.
Read More: MOL Group Reports Lower EBITDA In Consumer Services Business
'Strengthen Competitiveness'
"We are convinced that the acquisition of the OMV Slovenija business will strengthen competitiveness on the Slovenian market, as we will be able to utilise the entire production, logistics and processing capacities of MOL Group in the wider region of Central Europe to a greater extent than today," commented Robert Pitt, group retail senior vice president at MOL Group.
Headquartered in Hungary, MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain-management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2,500 service stations across 10 countries in Central and South Eastern Europe.
The group's status as an independent fuel retailer will enable it to "maintain independent price competitiveness and will positively impact the reliability of supplying a large number of Slovenian consumers", Pitt added.
Read More: Fuel Retailer MOL Group Expands Network In Poland
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