Austria-based oil and gas group OMV announced Friday that it had reached an agreement to take full control of major Turkish oil firm Petrol Ofisi, for a price of 1 billion euros (1.39 billion dollars), dpa reported.
"Our leading role in the Turkish market opens a variety of opportunities, not only for the oil marketing business but also for our other corporate business units, as Turkey is a strategic bridgehead to the resource-rich Caspian Region and the Middle East," OMV chief executive Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer said in a statement.
OMV, a leading oil firm in Central and Eastern Europe, had previously held 41.58 per cent of Petrol Ofisi. By taking over the other half from Turkish media and energy holding firm Dogan, it will own 95.75 per cent.
The Vienna-based company sees Turkey as a big potential growth market, as only 10 per cent of the population currently owns a car.
Petrol Ofisi has a national market share of some 27 per cent in fuel sales and owns a quarter of Turkey's total storage capacity. It is also involved in refining.
Its 1,000 employees made a net profit of 186 million dollars last year.
OMV's net profit was 572 million euros (797 million dollars) in 2009. The group employs 35,000 people worldwide.
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