LOCAL consortium group, Existing Dealers of Jamaica (EDJ), said it is extremely positive in its quest to acquire the Petroleum Company of Jamaica’s (Petcom) assets which are up for divestment.

The deadline for the bid is set for August 18.

“We stand as the only Jamaican entity vying for Petcom. Our group has the prerequisite skills and experience, and we know the business. We know the culture of the Petcom brand, and stand head and shoulders above anyone else,” Trevor Heaven, director/public relations officer of EDJ, told Auto.

Formed nine months ago, EDJ comprises gasolene retailers and stakeholders in the sector.

In addition to Heaven, the EDJ’s executive comprises chairman Ewart Scott, Jeremy Barnes, Andre Levy, Randel Stanley, Hugh Coore, Delroy Christie, and Dean Peart.

With nearly three decades of experience in the gasolene retail business, Heaven — who operates under the FESCO brand (formerly Unipet) in Manchester — said it would be good for Jamaica if his group was successful.

“We feel that it is in the best interest of Jamaica that we hold this one as a wholly Jamaican company and reinvest the profits back into Jamaica,” he said.

As part of its plans, the EDJ would list Petcom shares on the stock exchange.

Heaven said part funding would come from Proven Investments Limited.

“They [Proven] have come on board,” he said.

The director, however, spoke of the EDJ’s competitive advantage.

“Our competitive strength rests in unifying the dealers as constituents resolute to own a stake in a company through which there are additional benefits. We believe that no other entity has that resource and standing as a local entity than we do as we are the distribution footprint that others seek to purchase. This is the only way to leverage the strength of a unified constituency,” said Heaven.

Some estimates value Petcom at $2 billion.

Recently, a source close to Auto revealed that at least 15 companies have expressed a strong interest in the petroleum marketing company.

According to the source, “all the multinationals” operating locally are interested.

A total of 12 marketing companies operate locally. Of that number, three are multinationals which dominate with a combined share of approx 73 per cent. These are RUBiS, TOTAL, and Texaco/GB Group.

At the start of the 2013/2014 fiscal year, the Government declared its intention to divest Petcom, Jamaica’s fourth largest petroleum marketing company.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, Petcom was incorporated in 1973 to market petroleum products, industrial fuels and lubricants. In 1989, the company opened its first service station in Portmore, St Catherine. Today, it operates 28 stations islandwide and provided Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) from 14 filling plants.