Published: February 3, 2026 |

[Click image to enlarge]

Gary Pedersen
[Click image to enlarge]

Members of the management of Gunvor Group have successfully accepted a management-led buy-out offer of the company from existing ownership.

Under the agreement, majority owner Torbjörn Törnqvist will sell the entirety of his holdings in favor of a group of current employees, who will wholly own the company going forward. There will continue to be no outside ownership or interests.

The management buy-out, first conceived of by the company’s leadership at Gunvor’s all-hands retreat in Morocco in 2022, will entail a series of structural and governance changes designed to ensure the long-term commercial success and global growth of the 25-year-old company. The buy-out has been advanced at this time to establish a definitive reset and path forward for a company for which misperceptions about its past have become an impossible distraction.

Gary Pedersen has been appointed as chief executive officer of the company. Pedersen was signed in 2024 as CEO Americas based in Houston, with the intention of eventually assuming global leadership. For an interim period, he will be based in both Houston and Geneva.

“The time is right for this transition. A generational shift has well been underway, and we have the financial strength, liquidity, and depth of leadership to continue to advance our global growth strategy,” said Gary Pedersen.

“Our goal is to uphold our leading role as a reliable and competitive participant in the global energy markets — today and well into the future,” added Pedersen.

Gary Pedersen is a 30-year veteran of the energy commodities trading industry, with extensive international experience in trading management, logistics, and refining. He joined Gunvor from Millennium Management, where he served as senior portfolio manager for cross barrel oil products. Pedersen began his career in 1994 at Koch Industries, where he worked for various entities, including Koch Chemical Company, Flint Hills Resources, and Koch Supply & Trading. During this period, he held managing director roles in Rotterdam, Singapore, London, and Geneva. At Koch Supply & Trading he oversaw trading around the company’s 85,000 bpd condensate splitter in Rotterdam, along with the trading of aromatics, natural gas liquids, naphtha, gasoline, and condensates. Pedersen studied and played football at Iowa State University and received a Finance degree from University of Nebraska Kearney. Gary is a U.S. citizen.

The new ownership of the company remains fully committed to the existing strategy of pursuing global growth, diversification, and investing along the energy supply chain, with a particular emphasis on investments and development within the U.S. market, along with Europe and Asia.

The company will further implement changes to the Gunvor Group board of directors and executive committee, which now exclude members of the Törnqvist family and representatives.

Gunvor Group is one of the world’s largest independent commodities trading houses by turnover, creating logistics solutions that safely and efficiently move physical energy, bulk materials, and base metals from where they are sourced and stored to where they are demanded most.

Be in-the-know when you’re on-the-go!

CLICK HERE to register your email address.

Copyright © 2025 Mining Connection LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

For licensing permission, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)