Doppler Group sells fuel business

Doppler Group sells fuel business

For some time now, Austria's largest private fuel retailer, the Doppler Group from Wels, has been looking for a strong strategic partner to further develop its fuel business. Sole owner Franz-Joseph Doppler has now informed the employees of the Doppler Group and all relevant stakeholders about the sale of Doppler Energie GmbH to the Polish Orlen S.A. informed. The Supervisory Board of Orlen S.A. gave the green light for this takeover. The contract was signed in Vienna on July 4, 2023. Subject to antitrust approval, the closing is expected to take place towards the end of 2023. It was agreed not to disclose the purchase price. A central component of the takeover is the gas station network of the brands Turmöl, Turmgas, Turmstrom and Austrocard. The associated gas station properties, the liquid gas business, the logistics business and the calibration center were not sold.

Franz-Joseph Doppler, managing owner, points to the strong performance of his Turmöl group in recent years. "Under the Turmöl brand, we have developed into the No. 1 domestic fuel discounter. At the same time, we have recognized the signs of the times and focused on alternative, future-oriented fuel types such as gas and electricity." Cooperations with “SPAR-Express”, “foodora” and also parcel and money service providers have made the more than 260 gas stations into popular service centers in Austria. “Over the last few months, together with my advisors and experts, I have come to the conclusion that an international market participant can better develop the questions of mobility and its diversity in the future than the Turmöl Group as a private, regional energy trader,” says Doppler, explaining the decision.

With sales of more than 1.8 billion euros, the Doppler Group can look back on its most successful financial year since its inception. The year was marked by a six-month closure of the Schwechat refinery in Austria, as well as by the upheavals of the Russian Federation's war of aggression and the resulting embargoes by the European Union. Despite this crisis mode, more than 1.3 billion liters of fuel were sold last year, which currently corresponds to an increase of around 28% growth. For the first time, Doppler was able to achieve a share of more than 10% in the Austrian mineral oil market. The latest statistics show that although the domestic market for carburetor fuels has increased slightly, diesel sales are declining sharply, so that overall there was a slight decline in the market in 2022. In contrast, the Doppler Group scores with innovative concepts and, in contrast to the Austrian market, was able to record a double-digit increase.

The future owner Orlen S.A. is a publicly traded, integrated multi-utility group listed in global rankings such as Fortune Global 500 and Platts TOP250. It was the first company in the region to commit to achieving a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. The recent acquisitions of Energa Group, Grupa LOTOS and PGNiG place the group among the 150 largest companies in the world. The Orlen Group operates in nine home markets: Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Canada, Norway and Pakistan. The company has state-of-the-art facilities with an annual processing capacity of over 45 million tonnes of various grades of crude oil. Its retail operations are conducted through CEE's largest network of almost 3,100 modern gas stations. The Orlen Group's stated main objective is to ensure access to a stable supply of energy, fuel and gas from green sources. By the end of this decade, the group plans to spend more than PLN 320 billion on strategic investments, of which about 40% will go to environmentally friendly projects – including offshore and onshore wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas and biomethane, biofuels and electromobility and green hydrogen. In addition, modern petrochemical plants and safe nuclear energy production are being developed.