Liberty Oil

Liberty Oil
IndustryPetroleum
Founded1995
FounderDavid Golberger
David Wieland
Headquarters
Melbourne
,
Australia
Number of locations
284 (2022)
ParentViva Energy
Websitewww.libertyoil.com.au

Liberty Oil is an Australian petroleum distributor and retailer. It is owned and operated by Viva Energy who also own Shell, Reddy Express, OTR. It is known as a subsidiary of Viva Energy.

History

Liberty Oil was founded in 1995 by David Goldberger and David Wieland, who had previously founded Solo in 1974, before selling it to Ampol in 1989. Goldberger and Wieland had been subject to a ten year non-compete clause however this was ruled void by the Trade Practices Commission when Ampol merged with Caltex.[1]

In July 2001, Liberty leased 69 of its sites to Woolworths which were rebranded as Woolworths Plus Petrol. [2][3] At this stage it had an 8% market share of the Australian petrol market.[4][5]

In August 2014, Viva Energy purchased a 50% shareholding, taking full ownership in February 2019.[6][7][8][9] As part of Viva Energy taking full ownership, Liberty Oil Convenience was established as a new joint venture to operate the existing Liberty retail network with Viva Energy owning 50% (non-controlling), and Goldberger and Wieland the balance.[10] Viva will gain rights to fully acquire the joint venture in 2025.[11]

As Viva Energy also operates Shell-branded stations in Australia, Liberty accepts the Shell Card used in Shell stations.[12] As of October 2022, it operates 284 service stations.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Oil twins head back into the big league". Australian Financial Review. 11 November 1996. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Woolworths Plus Petrol Leases 69 Liberty Oil Outlets". Woolworths. 6 July 2001. Archived from the original on 22 June 2005.
  3. ^ "Woolworths Plus Petrol Leases 69 Liberty Oil Outlets". Australian Securities Exchange. Woolworths. 6 July 2001. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Liberty's Davids to do a deal with Goliath". Australian Financial Review. 20 July 2001. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Battle of the titans". Australian Financial Review. 2 September 2004. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Vitol's Viva Energy buys stake in Australian fuel supplier]". Reuters. 25 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Viva Energy upgrades the Shell business, targets Liberty stake". Convenience & Impulse Retailing. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Viva Energy set sights on dropping petrol prices as it buys out Liberty Oil". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Viva Energy's proposed acquisition of Liberty Oil's wholesale business not opposed" (PDF). Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. 10 December 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2022.
  10. ^ "About Us". Liberty Oil Convenience. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Viva Energy to acquire Coles Express". Australian Securities Exchange. Viva Energy. 21 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Liberty-Shell Affinity Card". Liberty Oil. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Contact Us". Liberty Oil. Retrieved 14 October 2022.