By Luis Garcia

Energy Capital Partners and KKR & Co. could benefit from DCC's newfound focus on the energy sector if they overcome investor resistance to take the European fuels supplier private, according to industry analysts.

The New York buyout firm and Energy Capital Partners bumped up their proposed offer to what equates to about GBP66.72 a share for DCC on June 10, giving the Dublin-based company a market value of around GBP5.7 billion, or roughly $7.6 billion. Directors of London-listed DCC, who spurned the bidders' April approach, said last month that they are "minded to recommend" the higher offer to shareholders.

Under Irish takeover rules, the two private-equity firms have until Wednesday to formalize the offer or they will be barred from making another approach for six months. The shares closed at GBP61.90 on Thursday.

Despite DCC's favorable response, the firms face resistance from some investors. Financial-services giant Fidelity International, which owns 6.9% of the company's stock, said earlier this week it wouldn't accept less than GBP70 a share.

Until recently, DCC operated energy, healthcare and technology divisions. It sold its healthcare unit and part of its technology group last year. It's currently seeking to shed its Nexora audio-visual equipment and consumer electronics unit.

The divestitures are part of a strategy DCC set in motion about two years ago to concentrate on its larger and more profitable energy business, an effort that also includes a planned rebranding as DCC Energy. The company's leaders have said they expect the more focused business to generate twice the profit it recorded in 2022 within the next four years.

The energy operations supply various fuels used for heating, cooking and transportation, including liquefied petroleum gas, biopropane and renewable dimethyl ether, as well as diesel oil and gasoline. DCC has energy assets in several European countries and in the U.S., including nearly 1,200 automotive filling stations across Europe.

Absent a buyout, the energy-focused strategy also is expected to give DCC's stock a boost as investors gain more clarity about what it will mean for the company, industry analysts said.

"Some investors have just been waiting on the sidelines for DCC to become a pure-energy business," said Charlie Williams, a securities analyst at investment bank Stifel who focuses on business-services providers. "That puts a drag on DCC's valuation while the transition moves ahead."

Williams pointed to natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas supplier UGI, whose New York-listed stock trades at 10 to 13 times its operating profit, compared with price multiples as low as eight times for DCC shares before reports of a potential buyout surfaced. That valuation lag makes DCC an attractive acquisition target for KKR and Energy Capital Partners as they look to gain from the company's shift to a pure-play energy business, he added.

The private-equity firms' latest offer represented a 33% premium to DCC's volume-weighted average share price during the three-month period through April, according to a report by finance-research provider Fitch Ratings.

"There is this multiple arbitrage while the market hasn't quite begun valuing DCC's remaining energy business correctly," Stifel's Williams said. "I think the PE buyers have noticed that."

The company has other features that make it an appealing buyout target, including robust cash-flow generation and a base of captive customers with DCC fuel storage tanks on their properties, according to Williams. An established distribution infrastructure, which includes fuel-tanker trucks, reduces reinvestment needs, while a volume-based flat fee added to fuel prices makes DCC's margins less sensitive to fluctuations in commodity markets, he said.

"DCC benefits from a diversified customer base across commercial and industrial" sectors, Fitch said in the report. The company also has "good geographic diversification."

Acquiring the company would expand Energy Capital Partners' presence as a U.K. energy supplier. The Summit, N.J.-based firm last year bought Grain LNG, the operator of a liquefied natural gas regasification terminal near London, alongside another investor.

KKR is also a longtime investor in Europe's energy industry. Among other deals, the buyout giant last year added to its stake in Enilive, the biofuels and car-sharing unit of Italian energy company Eni with U.K. operations. KKR now owns 30% of the business.

A slow-growing European liquefied-gas market is one hurdle KKR and Energy Capital Partners will face should they succeed in buying DCC, Williams said. Owning tanks placed on customer property can protect DCC from competitors, but it can also hamper its ability to expand as rivals take the same approach, he said.

He noted, however, that DCC has expanded significantly through acquisitions in recent years, including buying several liquid-gas assets. A still fragmented market offers more acquisition opportunities, Williams said.

"They still have a big space to grow both in Europe and in the U.S.," he said. "It's an attractive opportunity for a PE buyer to further consolidate" the market.

Write to Luis Garcia at luis.garcia@wsj.com