- A strategically significant transaction for Italy’s industrial and energy sectors, restoring the country’s most important refining complex to Italian ownership.
- Subject to clearance under Golden Power and antitrust procedures, the acquisition will see ISAB evolve from a traditional refinery into an Energy Company, underpinning competitiveness, security of supply and the development of new energy value chains.
- With ISAB, the Ludoil Group takes a decisive step up in scale and industrial scope: spanning power generation, crude oil processing and advanced biofuels, the enlarged group will become Italy’s leading privately held energy operator, with expected consolidated revenues exceeding €10 billion per year.
Ludoil Capital S.r.l. (www.Ludoil.it), a wholly-owned subsidiary of holding company Ludoil Energy S.p.A. (“Ludoil” or the “Group”), has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) with GOI Energy S.r.l. to acquire GOI Energy’s equity stake in ISAB S.r.l. (“ISAB”), owner of the Priolo Gargallo refinery and its associated industrial, logistics and energy infrastructure. The transaction is structured in two phases, the first covering a 51% interest and subject, among other conditions, to clearance from the Italian Government under the special powers regime applicable to assets of national strategic importance (Decree-Law 21/2012, the so-called Golden Power), and to the requisite antitrust and regulatory approvals.
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Located in south-eastern Sicily, in the Province of Syracuse and straddling the municipalities of Priolo Gargallo, Augusta, and Melilli, the facility is Italy’s largest refining complex, with an authorised capacity of 20 million tonnes per year and a balanced capacity of 15 million tonnes per year, and represents a strategic infrastructure for national energy security, and represents critical national infrastructure for energy security. Through this transaction, an asset of vital national importance returns to Italian ownership.
The acquisition marks the beginning of a new chapter for ISAB, which will be transformed into an Energy Company with an integrated portfolio that spans crude oil processing through to advanced biofuels, positioning the business as a strategic hub for energy flows between Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. Operations will follow a shared-value model, ensuring that ISAB strengthens its role in safeguarding energy supplies and continues to deliver prosperity to the local community and the country at large.
Over the medium term, industrial strategy will centre on advanced bio-processing. The plan envisages the progressive build-out of new value chains for the production of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), BioOil, second-generation bioethanol and BioETBE – a comprehensive set of renewable energy carriers aligned with European decarbonisation policy.
Investments will be structured to comply with the European RED III Directive, reflecting the Group’s commitment to internationally recognised sustainability standards. Alongside the bio activities, the site already hosts a 540 MW power and cogeneration plant and will see the addition of further renewable generation assets totalling 20 MW. These investments form part of a broader transformation of the Priolo industrial district, which is already attracting significant capital flows into biorefining and helping to establish the Syracuse area as a leading hub for the energy transition in the Mediterranean.
On employment, the existing workforce will be retained in full. ISAB represents a wealth of engineering expertise built over decades in Sicily – the historic heart of Italian refining and petrochemicals. It is a nationally recognised centre of excellence which Ludoil intends to develop further and take onto the international stage. The growth plan and new facilities under development are also expected to create further employment opportunities locally, including through partnerships with academic and research institutions.
The complementarity between Ludoil’s commercial and infrastructure capabilities and ISAB’s industrial expertise will enable full vertical integration across the value chain — from feedstock sourcing through downstream operations to distribution. The Group’s portfolio comprises coastal storage terminals, logistics infrastructure, a fuel retail network and a diversified mix of renewable generation assets, from biomethane to solar PV and wind.
The transaction establishes Ludoil as Italy’s leading privately held Multi-Energy Company, with expected consolidated revenues exceeding €10 billion per year, ranking the Group among Italy’s largest companies by revenue and placing it at the forefront of the transformation of the national energy system.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ludoil.
