Noble includes distribution unit in U.S. oil business sale to Vitol

Noble Group on Tuesday said it has amended its agreement to sell its U.S.-focused oil liquids business Noble Americas Corp (NAC) to rival Vitol Group.

Noble Group
Noble Group Logo. Reuters

Noble Group on Tuesday said it has amended its agreement to sell its U.S.-focused oil liquids business Noble Americas Corp (NAC) to rival Vitol Group.

The sale now includes its U.S.-based petroleum supply and distribution unit Noble Petro Inc to the overall disposal of NAC business, lifting the base consideration for the deal by US$15 million.

Embattled commodity trader said both parties had agreed that the base consideration for its sale of Noble Americas Corp to Vitol would increase from about US$202 million to US$217 million as a result, the company said in a regulatory filing.

As a result the gross consideration for the deal would work out to be about US$1.43 billion and cash proceeds would also be higher at around US$597 million after deducting the indebtedness.

Noble Group on Monday said its co-Chief Executive Jeff Frase resigned in the wake of the sale of the company's oil business. Noble said William Randall, currently co-chief-executive, would take control of the company with immediate effect.

The resignation comes just days after Noble reported a third-quarter loss of $1.17 billion and warned that the operating environment remains challenging.

Shares in Noble Group fell 10 percent to S$0.20 on the Singapore Exchange.

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