Deadline set for bids on Moroccan oil refiner Samir
RABAT (Reuters) -- The Moroccan court-appointed administrator for oil refiner Samir has set a deadline for prospective buyers to submit bids for the country's only refinery.
The 200,000 bpd plant was shut down in 2015, and a court ruling placed the company under administration.
Restarting production will be a prerequisite for investors interested in buying the company but attempts to do so have been frustrated so far by difficulties in getting a supply of crude oil.
The administrator said on Wednesday prospective investors have 30 days from today to submit an offer to buy the company's entire assets.
Investors interested should submit their price with guarantees and a five-year business plan, he said in an announcement published in a daily newspaper said.
The administrator, Mohamed El-Krimi, said he has already received two offers but neither was guaranteed.
Business news website Medias24 said the entire business was valued by court-appointed experts at $2 billion, a valuation which was later confirmed by a source involved in the process, while the refinery plant alone was valued at 15 billion dirhams.
Samir, in which Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi's Corral Holdings had a 67.26% stake, has been battling creditors ranging from oil traders to banks.
The Moroccan government says Samir owes it 13 billion dirhams in taxes and its total debt stands at around 44 billion dirhams.
At just under 300,000 bpd, Morocco's national petroleum consumption is Africa's fifth largest, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Greg Mahlich
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