Fuel supplier Greenergy in Brookfield talks

A major British fuel supplier which counts Tesco (Frankfurt: 852647 - news) 's pension fund among its biggest shareholders is in advanced talks to sell a stake to the giant Canadian group whose assets include Center Parcs.

Sky News has learnt that Greenergy, which claims to transport a quarter of the road fuel used in the UK, has been in negotiations with the infrastructure group Brookfield‎ for several months.

The talks are understood to focus on the acquisition of a stake in Greenergy rather than an outright sale‎ of the company.

A deal is said to be nearing completion, although any announcement could be some weeks away, according to sources close to the discussions.

Greenergy hired advisers at the Dutch bank ING last summer to evaluate a transaction‎, with reports at the time suggesting that the company could be worth up to £500m.

Named as Britain's second-biggest private company by The Sunday Times, Greenergy transported more than 18bn litres of fuel last year, and owns a major stake in the Thames Oilport diesel storage facility.

Its co-founder, Andrew Owens, owns a 16% stake in the business worth £80m at a £500m overall valuation.

Tesco's pension fund‎ owns just over one-third of the business, a shareholding which could be worth close to £175m.

Greenergy's chairman is Paul Lester, an industrialist who ‎holds prominent roles at a string of big companies.

It was unclear on Sunday whether, if completed, Brookfield would invest in Greenergy through‎ one of its private funds or through the publicly traded Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

Neither Greenergy nor Brookfield responded to a request for comment.