MOL Acquires Filling Stations in Hungary and Poland

Hungarian oil and gas enterprise MOL Group has signed an agreement to acquire Normbenz Hungary Ltd, which operates 79 service stations in Hungary under the Lukoil brand. MOL has also signed an agreement with Grupa Lotos SA and PKN Orlen to acquire 417 service stations in Poland.

The Lukoil agreement announced today follows an acquisition in March 2021, when Slovnaft, the Slovak subsidiary of the MOL Group, acquired 100% of Normbenz Slovakia s.r.o. and 16 Lukoil-branded service stations in Slovakia.

"This acquisition is important for us for several reasons. On the one hand, it gives us the opportunity to optimize our operations in several countries, on the other hand, it further strengthens our regional positions and supports the implementation of our long-term corporate strategy, in which we are giving a prominent role to our Consumer Services business," Managing Director of MOL Group Consumer Services, Péter Ratatics said.

With the Polish transaction, MOL enters the 10th country with its retail business, increasing its portfolio from 1943 to 2390 service stations and its retail network is now bordered by three seas, the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Sea. The company operates its service stations across the region under five brands, including the recently acquired 120 OMV Slovenija and the 95 new Lukoil stations in Slovakia and Hungary. These transactions are subject to regulatory approval.

Following the closing of the deal, MOL will become a dominant player in the Polish retail fuel market, with a number of service stations that exceeds the Hungarian market. Today's agreement represents an excellent growth opportunity for MOL's Consumer Services business, according to a statement by the company.