* Private firms seen replacing majors in African fuels
* Follows AOG's plan to invest $400 million
GENEVA, March 20 (Reuters) - Addax & Oryx Group (AOG) saidit has agreed to buy BP and Masana Petroleum Solution'sliquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution business in SouthAfrica as it seeks a bigger stake in the booming African fuelsmarket.
Oryx Energies, the downstream branch of AOG chaired bybillionaire Jean Claude Gandur, said on Wednesday it expected tofinalise the deal in the third quarter of 2013.
The BP and Masana businesses in South Africa generate annualsales of around 60,000 tonnes of LPG -- a product used forheating and cooking.
The value of the sale was not disclosed.
Gandur said in February that the group planned to invest$400 million in Africa's energy sector over the next five yearsafter talks to sell its trading and downstream assets fellthrough last year.
"This is an important step in the roll out of our regionalLPG strategy," Gandur said in the emailed statement.
Private trading houses such as Trafigura andVitol have also sought to expand their network ofdownstream African assets in recent years by purchasing assetsfrom oil majors.
Ecobank Research projects African fuel demand to rise by 40percent to 4.3 million barrels per day in 2020.
AOG, which has offices in Geneva, also has businesses in theupstream oil sector and real estate.