Lenders to ailing oil refinery's petrol forecourts arm plot sale

Lenders to the petrol forecourts arm of the ailing group behind the Prax Lindsey oil refinery have drafted in City advisers ahead of the business being put up for sale.

Sky News has learnt that AlixPartners, the professional services firm, has been engaged by a syndicate of funds which are owed more than £200m by Prax Group's retail operations. The unit trades from more than 200 sites across the UK, according to the company's website, with reports at the weekend suggesting that some sites are facing fuel shortages because of supply agreements that they have with the group's refinery in Lincolnshire.

The refinery collapsed into compulsory liquidation last month and is now being run by restructuring experts at FTI Consulting on behalf of the Official Receiver. The plant - one of only a handful of oil refineries still operating in the UK - supplies roughly 10% of the UK's fuel.

Last week, Sky News revealed that the Official Receiver had set prospective buyers of Prax Lindsey a two-week deadline to buy the site, although many in the industry expect it to be wound down rather than sold. The petrol forecourts arm - which is not itself in administration - is likely to draw interest from industry peers.

Ministers have ordered an Insolvency Service probe into the conduct of the husband-and-wife team behind State Oil, parent company of the Prax Group, alleging they were misled about the company's finances in the build-up to its insolvency. The group is reported to owe the UK tax authorities in the region of £250m, with insiders saying that Sanjeev Kumar Soosaipillai and his wife Arani had been in talks about a Time to Pay arrangement with HM Revenue & Customs prior to State Oil's collapse.

AlixPartners did not respond to a request for comment..