Delek in talks to purchase rival Alon: UpdateOREANDA-NEWS. April 01, 2015. US independent refiner Delek US has explored purchasing rival Alon USA, a move that could more than double its refining and retail presence and stretch the small company to two coasts.

Delek and Alon confirmed ongoing discussion of the purchase of some or all of Alon's shares, according to a disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The companies had formed a special committee to present any offer to Alon's board.

Neither company responded to requests for comment. The disclosure followed an apparent leak of the talks to Israeli media, according to the filing.

Delek chief executive Uzi Yemin told analysts during a late February conference call that his company would look to buy refineries as it finished modifying its own.

"We're looking for other refining assets as our investment in refining is coming down dramatically with this project coming to an end," Yemin said in February.

Yemin's comments came less than two weeks after Alon's overseas parent company, Alon Israel, sold shares that brought its interest in Alon USA below 50pc.

Delek and Alon are similar in terms of size and retail focus. Both have had Israeli controlling interests — Alon originally as an Israeli retail company and Delek an integrated Israeli energy firm. Both companies operate smaller refineries tilted toward gasoline, supply their refineries with some volume of locally-gathered crude, and feed wholesale and retail outlets they control.

Though a controlling purchase would increase Delek's US Gulf coast capacity and extend the refiner to the US west coast, it would not put it in a strong position to join the bustling refined product exports business. Delek would instead expand a business more focused on inland markets through owned or long-term purchase relationships.

Alon operates 156,000 b/d of active refining capacity in Louisiana and west Texas. Midstream assets include a wholesale bulk fuel system in Texas, as well as a pair of west coast terminals, the pipelines connecting them and plans to build a 140,000 b/d railed crude unloading facility in southern California.

Alon also has a pair of idled and currently uneconomic southern California refineries. Alon has no plans to restore an 88,000 b/d facility in Paramount, but it has considered restarting a 70,000 b/d Bakersfield refinery at reduced rates, in part to provide base load for the planned rail facility.

Alon supplies 644 retail stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona with branded and unbranded fuel. The company owns 300 retail locations and says it is the largest licensee in the US of the convenience store chain 7-Eleven.

Delek recently completed expansions adding 25,000 b/d to its now 155,000 b/d of refining capacity in Texas and Arkansas. It supplies both of its refineries with WTI Midland, crude that is also essential to Alon USA's 73,000 b/d refinery in Big Spring, Texas. It also operates wholesale and retail networks with terminals, racks and 362 stores in seven states.

Delek already formed a logistics master limited partnership (MLP), a tax-advantaged corporate structure favored in the refining sector to drive investment into pipelines, terminals and other fee-based assets. Alon has said it plans to create its own.