French Total will finalize the takeover of Gulf Africa Petroleum (Gapco) East Africa assets in December, reported All Africa.

Total’s Executive Vice President for East and Central Africa and Chairman of Total Uganda, Jean Christian Bergeron, stated that the takeover of GAPCO’s assets would strengthen Total’s presence in the region, especially in Uganda. He said: “currently we understand that Vivo Energy (Shell) is still leading in the market but we know that when the deal is done, our market share will be at 28% in Uganda,” according to Observer.

Bergeron added that the transaction, that was first announced in May 2016, was on course as most negotiations were done and it will be concluded by December 2016.

Gapco operates 37 petrol stations in the country. The company’s assets in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda include logistic terminals, several fuel stations, and 260m liters of storage capacity.