CVC to join Repsol in bid for Shell unit

British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners will join Spanish oil and gas group Repsol in bidding on Royal Dutch/Shell's…

British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners will join Spanish oil and gas group Repsol in bidding on Royal Dutch/Shell's liquefied petroleum gas business, Repsol said today.

If Repsol and CVC win the bidding, Repsol would merge the Shell assets with its butane division and create a new company 60 per cent owned by Repsol and 40 percent owned by CVC.

CVC would then be free to list its stake on the stock market or sell to a third party, a Repsol spokesman said.

Repsol previously had said CVC was among the groups it could join to make a bid for Shell.

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Spanish media have reported Shell's LPG distribution and marketing business to be worth around €2.6 billion.

Shell started a sale process for the LPG unit, which operates in 35 countries, late last year after receiving an unsolicited approach.

The oil company is in the process of selling assets to raise up to $15 billion over three years to invest in oil and gas exploration. Shell is aiming to improve its record at finding oil and gas after an embarrassing reserves-overbooking scandal last year.