Global energy trader Vitol has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Noble Resources Trading Ltd, the company said in a statement on Friday, in a deal intended to expand its coal trading business.

The deal is expected to close before the end of this year for $0.63 per share, or $208.9 million. Newly acquired Noble will initially be run as a standalone entity.

Noble was a major trading firm listed in Singapore with a market capitalisation of $6 billion in 2015 before questions over its accounting practices plunged the firm into crisis and triggered a fire sale of its various business units.

Geneva-based Vitol bought Noble’s U.S.-focused oil unit in 2018 while rival trader Mercuria bought Noble’s U.S. gas and power arm.

Noble trades 35 million tonnes of thermal coal per year and is a leader in metallurgical coke and coal, which fits in to Vitol’s push into metals. Noble also trades some refined oil products.

“I am delighted at the prospect of the very experienced teams at Noble Resources joining Vitol and very much look forward to growing the business together,” Mike Muller, CEO of Vitol Asia, said in the statement.

Vitol is the world’s biggest oil trader, moving over 7 million barrels per day. In recent years, the company posted strong profits on the back of market dislocations across commodities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Europe’s energy crisis.

In 2023, the company made a profit of $13 billion and paid out $6.4 billion to its employee shareholders.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Julia Payne in Brussels; Editing by Matthew Lewis)