Bulgarian investment company Alpha Bulgaria Fund recently announced its intention to purchase up to 200,000 shares in Prista Oil Holding, the country’s largest lubricant producer.
Shareholders endorsed the plan during a meeting on March 20. With the investment, the firm aims to bolster its presence in the lubricant market and facilitate Prista’s expansion.
The planned purchase is valued at 20 million leva (U.S. $11.2 million). In a March 20 stock exchange filing, Alpha Bulgaria said the deal should be finalized by the end of 2025.
Alpha Bulgaria said previously that it acquired 97,791 shares in Prista by the end of 2023 for 9.8 million leva. Local investment company Prista Invest 2016 holds the remaining 376,414 shares.
This move is anticipated to boost Alpha Bulgaria’s market capitalization and will provide the investment firm with an indirect stake in local battery maker Monbat, in which Prista Oil Holding owns a 42.73% stake.
According to its website, Prista markets finished lubricants in over 45 countries across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. The company operates a lubricant blending plant with an annual capacity of 110,000 metric tons in Ruse, Bulgaria, on the Danube River and operates a grease plant under the name Verila Lubricants in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
Prista is also involved in a joint venture, Uz-Prista Recycling, which operates a rerefinery in Angren, Uzbekistan with capacity to make 30,000 tons per year of API Group I base oils.