Exxon Mobil and its affiliates have signed an agreement with Barbados-based SOL (Simpson Oil Ltd) for the sale of Esso Bermuda’s downstream (retail) business.Esso Bermuda country manager Mark Fields said the deal was a share sale and the general public should not see any changes in the stores or branding for some time the Esso brand and Tigermarkets will remain the same.The deal is not finalised and is subject to normal regulatory approvals.Coral Petroleum is the parent of Esso Bermuda.“Everything is business as normal,” Mr Fields said, noting that the Esso Bermuda offices would remain in Ferry Reach, St George’s and there would be no layoffs or job losses.“There will be no change in the Esso brand in Bermuda and the suppliers will still be Exxon Mobil. It’s essentially a change of the corporate ownership in the background.”He said none of the eight Esso service stations in Bermuda was being sold either; their ownership remains the same.Premier Craig Cannonier owns Esso City Tigermarket, Collector’s Hill Esso and Warwick Esso.SOL, which has been growing in the Caribbean for eight years, is buying Exxon Mobil and its affiliates in Barbados and a number of other Caribbean territories.The purchase includes 170 Esso service stations across the Caribbean, its industrial and wholesale operations as well as marine and aviation refuelling. It also includes a 14.5 percent share in SRA Oil Refinery located in Martinique.SOL, led by Barbadian business mogul Sir Kyffin Simpson, several years ago acquired Shell Antilles and Guianas Limited.The acquisition gave the company control over Shell’s retail and commercial fuels business in Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, Anguilla, Guyana, Suriname, Belize, St Kitts/Nevis, St Vincent, Grenada, British Virgin Islands, Netherlands Antilles and Dominica.Simpson Motors, another of Sir Kyffin's companies, is the holder of the Suzuki franchise in the region.