Jean-Claude Gandur, the French-born Swiss businessman who built a fortune in African oil, is selling control of Oryx Energies, his fuel distribution business, to two of its own managers: chief executive Moussa Diao and Hervé Bouvet, its head of trading. Bloomberg reported the deal on 8 October and put the company’s value at about $1 billion, according to Billionaires.Africa and NKP M&A Insights. Africa Intelligence, as reported by EcoMatin, gave the same value and said the agreement was signed on 2 October. The size of the stake and the price paid have not been disclosed, and as of 14 October 2026 we found no statement on Oryx’s website.
Who is selling
Gandur founded the group in 1987. Its holding company is AOG, the Addax & Oryx Group. His best-known sale came in 2009, when China’s Sinopec agreed to buy Addax Petroleum, an oil producer listed in Toronto and London that he ran as chief executive, for C$8.27 billion, about $7.2 billion at the time.
Oryx Energies, based in Geneva, is the group’s downstream arm. It imports, stores and sells fuel, LPG and lubricants, with direct operations in 17 African countries. Billionaires.Africa, citing company figures, says it runs more than 410 service stations and sells about 9.4 million tonnes of products a year.
Who is buying
Diao joined Oryx in 1999 as a junior trader and became chief executive in February 2019, the company said at the time. Billionaires.Africa describes him as the son of Abdoulaye “Baba” Diao, a well-known Senegalese oil businessman, and says Bouvet previously held senior roles at Addax Energy, the group’s trading arm.
According to Africa Intelligence, as reported by EcoMatin, the two managers told the other shareholders of their plan in April, and a group of banks including Afreximbank is financing the purchase. The parties have not confirmed this. Earlier talks with financier Simon Tiemtoré’s Lilium Capital about the station network and other businesses fell through, according to The Africa Report, as cited by Billionaires.Africa.
What a management buyout is
In a management buyout, the people who run a company buy it from its owners, usually with a lot of borrowed money. For a founder, it is a way to exit without selling to a rival or a fund, and to leave the business with people who know it well. The trade-off is that the managers must find the money, and the company often ends up carrying the debt. It is one answer to the succession question in five mistakes in managing family wealth.
What to watch
- Whether Oryx, AOG or the buyers confirm the terms, including the stake and the financing.
- Whether Gandur keeps a shareholding or a role.
- How much debt the new owners take on, and whether the station network stays in one piece.
A fair caveat
Almost everything here comes from press reports, not from statements by the parties. The $1 billion figure is a reported valuation, not a confirmed price. Details may change.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If we wanted to sell a family business to its managers, how would they pay, what guarantees would we need, and should we keep a stake? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.