MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine-Brazilian group after Esso assets in Mercosur

Argentine group Eurnekian and Brazilian investment fund GP Investimentos have tied up to launch an offer to buy the Latin American Esso downstream assets of Exxon Mobil Corp, said a spokesman for Eurnekian in Buenos Aires.

Eurnekian's Ernesto Gutierrez confirmed the pact in Argentine daily Clarin Thursday edition, adding that the group was interested in Esso's operations in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Gutierrez said that Argentine president Cristina Kirchner had been informed of the offer. However the amount for the offer was not disclosed. "We told President Cristina Kirchner about the offer we are making," Gutierrez was quoted as saying. "We are going in association with the Brazilian group GP Investimentos" he added. Reports that Exxon wants to sell its refinery and service station assets in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay surfaced last year, although company officials have declined to comment on the matter. Other companies reportedly interested in the Esso assets include Brazil's government managed oil company Petrobras and investment fund Ashmore. It remains to be seen if Exxon will be able to sell all of its assets to one buyer. Petrobras, for example, may run into regulatory problems in Brazil due to its market dominant position, while it and other foreign companies will likely face opposition from the Argentine government, which is expected to favor Argentine players. Other Argentine groups that have expressed an interest in Esso assets include investment groups Pampa Holding and Sadesa, an energy unit controlled by the Bemberg-Miguens family. The Grupo Eurnekian which manages all of Argentina and Uruguay's main airports made two other big-ticket investment announcements in recent days: a 2.8 billion US dollars Trans-Andean rail project between Argentina and Chile, and a 1.6 billion hydroelectricity dam in Ecuador.