Tosco, Unable to Find Buyer, to Move Office
In the wake of its aborted six-month attempt to find a suitor, Tosco Corp., the largest independent refiner on the West Coast, said Friday that it will close its Santa Monica headquarters by year-end to be closer to its Northern California refinery.
The move will affect about 80 employees in the office, including John G. Drosdick, president of Tosco’s refining company, who chose to leave the firm rather than move. He will be replaced by Senior Vice President James M. Cleary, resident manager of the refinery, effective June 30.
No site has been chosen for the new headquarters, the company said, but Tosco’s refinery is in Avon in Contra Costa County. It was unclear how many Tosco employees would choose to move.
“It made sense to consolidate operations and reduce costs” by moving administrative functions closer to the company’s primary operation, said Michael E. Tennenbaum, a Tosco director and vice chairman for investment banking at Bear, Stearns & Co.
Tosco’s Southern California headquarters date to when the company had far-flung enterprises, including several refineries. But recently, the company’s main business has been its Avon oil refinery in the East Bay.
The company had held off making a move while it entertained offers from a number of suitors. Last November, Tosco said it had received offers from at least three multinational corporations interested in buying either the company, which includes a Florida fertilizer operation and a moribund shale-oil business in Colorado, or just the refinery.
The company never disclosed who the bidders were, although analysts speculated that the refinery proved to be an attractive West Coast asset for such companies as British Petroleum. Analysts valued the refinery at about $1 billion. But sale talks ended last weekend when the company decided it had not received “an attractive, fully financed, unconditional bid,” Tennenbaum said.
Meanwhile, the company also announced that Peter A. Sutton, crude oil and trading manager, will become a senior vice president and Wilkes McClave a senior vice president and general counsel.
