O'Malley Plans US IPO After Wrong Way Bet on Petroplus: Energy
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas O’Malley made two fortunes buying U.S. oil refineries at rock-bottom prices and selling when the economy rebounded. On the third try, in Europe, the 70- year-old ex-Salomon Brothers Inc. oil trader got it wrong.
Petroplus Holdings AG, the Swiss refiner that sought protection from creditors last month, spent $2.5 billion buying plants in the U.K., Germany and France after O’Malley took it public in 2006. Its collapse after profit margins plunged hasn’t diminished the refining veteran’s appetite as he prepares for a similar initial public offering in the U.S.
PBF Energy Co., formed in 2008 with private-equity backers Blackstone Group LP and First Reserve Corp., said Nov. 14 that it’s planning a share sale. Petroplus netted its backers six times their initial investment even as O’Malley himself held on to stock for years after their exit.
“O’Malley’s strategy could work in the U.S. or Asia, but Europe is a completely different market,” Martin Schreiber, an analyst at Zuercher Kantonalbank in Zurich, said in an interview. “The whole refining industry in Europe is suffering from overcapacity and weak demand.”




