U.S. gasoline refiner Western Refining Inc. is to purchase Giant Industries Inc., a larger refiner, for about 1.23 billion dollars in cash, U.S. media reports said on Monday.

If Giant's shareholders vote their approval, Western, which operates a single refinery in El Paso, Texas, will add a further three in the Southwest, as well as 159 gasoline stations, said the reports.

The deal, to be formally announced late Monday, is valued by the two companies at 83 dollars a share, a price well above Giant's 71.79 dollars a share at the close of trading Friday, up 1.14 dollars for the day on the New York Stock Exchange.

Western Refining, which also trades on the New York exchange, rose 73 cents on Friday, to 25.99 dollars.

The two companies have a combined refining capacity of 216,000 barrels a day, which would make them, even combined, an intermediate-size operation.

Source: Xinhua