Cairo – Mubasher: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) said that franchisers are now included in the list of possible buyers of the 80-90% of the military-affiliated fuelling station chain Wataniya Petroleum Co, the CEO Ayman Soliman told Reuters.

The fund, which manages the sale of the National Service Products Organization’s (NSPO) Wataniya, will keep a 10-20% stake for itself, Soliman said.

The 80-90% stake will be sold to a private sector franchiser on a long-term leasehold basis.

“As we went through the process, we discovered that there are other different models, such as in Europe, from what we understand, petrol stations are no longer owned by the companies themselves or the distribution companies themselves,” Soliman added.

“They just franchise out the brand. There are now specialised operators that deploy their own balance sheet towards acquiring the station, which widen the scope of potential investors,” he noted.

The CEO expects that the deal will be complete by the end of June.

A number of investors have shown interest in the deal, including the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).