Is IPO on the horizon for Petronas Lubricants International?

In an interview with Reuters, Petronas Lubricants International (PLI) CEO Giuseppe D’Arrigo said that the wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) could consider an initial public offering (IPO) in the future.

“We don’t see (a listing) short term but we do not exclude it in the future,” D’Arrigo said in the Reuters interview.

Petronas Lubricants International operates in 23 countries and had sales of around USD 2 billion last year. Europe is where the company generates 28% of the company’s sales volume, with Italy representing almost half of its European sales, since Petronas acquired FL Selenia SpA from investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP for EUR 1 billion in 2007 and became its springboard for transforming its lubricants business from a purely domestic play to an international one. FL Selenia was Europe’s largest independent producer and marketer of branded automotive lubricants and other functional fluids based in Italy.

The company is targeting a doubling of its European sales, by investing between USD 250 million and 300 million over the next five years.

“Europe is basically a flat market but it’s very interesting for us and we believe we can extract value even in more mature markets where our growth is in double digits,” D’Arrigo told Reuters.