MANSFIELD, Ohio -- EZ Energy Ltd. wants to take full control of U.S. gas station and convenience store subsidiary EZ Energy USA Inc., Mansfield, Ohio, according to a report by Israeli newspaper Globes. EZ Energy USA has notified Investec Bank (UK) Ltd., which owns 34% of the company, that it will exercise its option granted in the loan agreement to buy back the shares for $10.4 million, the paper said.
EZ Energy USA has 92 gas stations in the United States. The gas stations sell 160 million gallons of gasoline a year and the turnover of the convenience stores is $68 [image-nocss] million a year. The company began its foray into the U.S. market back in July 2007, and since then has made three progressively larger acquisitions in the Ohio-Pennsylvania region.
In a separate development, Ramat Gan, Israel-based EZ Energy made a NIS 27 million ($7.121 million U.S.) principal and interest payment on its Series A bond, amounting to a fifth of the bond debt, said the report.
In late 2008, Investec Bank lent EZ Energy USA $10 million in exchange for an option to convert the loan into debt, which would be repaid after three years. EZ Energy was given the option to repay the loan after one year, and get back the shares in EZ Energy USA.
If Investec Bank decided to sell the EZ Energy USA stake, EZ Energy will record a $10 million debt with a longer average duration than its current debt to Investec, said Globes.
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