Zambia: KenolKobil Increases Stake in Lublend Ltd

This additional acquisition of 10.5% by Kobil Zambia, from Chevron, has now increased Kobil’s stake at Lublend Limited to 25.5%, following an initial acquisition of 15% shareholding from Total Zambia Limited in 2008. The new acquisition will give the KenolKobil Group more control of the management of the plant, and will also give it more representation in the company’s Board. The additional shareholding is a strategic investment by the company in line with the KenolKobil Group’s diversification strategy. Specifically, the move will strengthen the company’s market share in the robust lubricants business in Zambia.

Further, it is in line with the company’s growth strategy in Zambia which has seen the company’s retail network grow by more than12 stations, to over 25 stations, within the last 2 years. Together with its recent entry into supplying the mining sector, Kobil Zambia is seeking to consolidate its market position as the number three oil company in Zambia.

Since the initial acquisition of the 15% shareholding from Total in 2008 and the commencement of blending at the plant which is situated in Ndola, Kobil Zambia has boosted its lubricants business by 47%, with increased supplies to all sectors including mining, industrial, transport, and construction, and in its retail network among others.

With this additional acquisition, Kobil Zambia plans to intensify its reach into the mining sector within the Copper Belt Region of Zambia, and it is as well looking beyond the Zambian borders to the export markets of DR Congo (the Lumbumbashi area), Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The additional shareholding is part of Kobil Zambia’s strategy to further entrench itself in the market in the petroleum and related products business. The company will now be able to penetrate further the Zambian mining sector, which has for long been dominated by the traditional multinational Oil companies with their parent companies mostly in the US and Europe.

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