Gunvor Renames Itself Centalion in Shift Under New Ownership

(Bloomberg) — Commodities trading giant Gunvor Group is renaming itself Centalion Group Ltd. and plans to redomicile its corporate headquarters to Singapore, marking a shift for its new ownership after a management buyout last year.

The rebrand follows a July 2026 referendum and will be used from today, it said in a statement on Friday. Centalion’s main trading offices will, in addition to Singapore, remain in Geneva and Houston, where the company’s chairman and chief executive officer is based.

The change is partly a symbolic move away from the company’s previous ownership. Co-founded in 2000 by Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko and Swedish trader Torbjörn Törnqvist, “Gunvor” took its name from Törnqvist’s mother.

The company’s ownership came under scrutiny a number of times over its history for its close ties to Russia. First when Timchenko sold his stake ahead of incoming US sanctions, and again last year when Törnqvist reached a deal to buy the international assets of energy giant Lukoil PJSC. That led to rebuke from the US Treasury — it called the company “the Kremlin’s puppet” — and was the catalyst for a management buyout that led American Gary Pedersen becoming the new CEO.

The company plans to redomicile its corporate headquarters from Cyprus. That will involve the transfer of the existing legal entity to a new location rather than the incorporation of a new legal structure.

(Updates with more details and background)

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