Ludoil Capital, a unit of Italian energy firm Ludoil Energy, said on Wednesday it had completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in ISAB, operator of one of the Mediterranean's largest refining hubs, and plans to invest about 1.3 billion euros ($1.48 billion) over the next five years.
The deal gives Ludoil industrial and management control of ISAB's refineries in Priolo, Melilli and Syracuse in Sicily. The enterprise value of the assets is about 1 billion euros.
Ludoil's five-year investment program will focus initially on restoring and modernizing several refinery units that have been taken out of service.
The energy group said the planned work includes restarting primary distillation and hydrodesulfurization units at the North site, solvent deasphalting at the IGCC-South site, and thermal cracking facilities at the South site.
The company expects the restart to increase crude processing capacity and shift production toward lower-sulfur, lower-carbon distillates. Ludoil expects consolidated annual revenue of about 13 billion euros after integrating ISAB.
Ludoil also plans to expand into biofuels. It said co-processing using non-food vegetable oils at the fluid catalytic cracking unit at the North site began in July, and the company is targeting production of biogasoline, sustainable aviation fuel, and hydrotreated vegetable oil.