SUMMERVILLE. S.C. -- Sometimes an offer just comes along that you have to take seriously. That's how Shawn Smith, president of Angler's Mini-Mart, sums up his family's decision to sell its 16 convenience stores (six with Churches Chicken restaurants) to The Pantry, as reported yesterday in a CSP Daily News Flash.
I've been getting calls pretty regularly from people asking if we're interested in selling our stores, Smith, who is in charge of real estate for the Summerville, S.C.-based chain, told CSP Daily News yesterday. In fact, I got two calls just [image-nocss] today.
Such is the environment of the c-store industry in the Southeast, where The Pantry, Sanford, N.C., leads the acquisition charge.
The Pantry announced its agreement to acquire the 16 Angler's Mini-Marts in the Charleston, S.C., market on Tuesday. The stores generated revenues of approximately $73 million in 2005. Separately, the company signed definitive agreements to acquire two additional stores, one in Sanford, N.C., and the other in Columbiana, Ala.
"These agreements are all strategic tuck-in transactions that complement our existing store base and are expected to be immediately accretive to our earnings per share, chairman and CEO Pete Sodini said in a press release.
During the JP Morgan Consumer & Retail Holiday Conference held in New York yesterday, Sodini said The Pantry has systems in place to get 80% of the company's programs in place in new acquisitions within the first couple of weeks after the sale.
The purchases announced yesterday bring the number of stores The Pantry has acquired or agreed to acquire so far in fiscal 2007 to 33, about one-fourth of the number of stores the chain expects to purchase in the fiscal year.
We think the growth potential, particularly in Florida, [is great], Sodini said on the conference call. The whole southern part of Florida is available. The panhandle, which we've just moved into, is available. And there are other pockets in the Carolinascertainly Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Wilmingtonthat are all strong growth territories.
As far as making an offer that's comfortable for the seller, Sodini said it's all about finding the right real estate. We're in the business of acquiring first-class real estate, he said. It is the driving determinant on an acquisition. It's more important than the facilities to us because you're going to live with that real estate for the balance of the lease or for the balance of the time you choose to own it.
These transactions are subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. They are expected to close in the company's second fiscal quarter and will be financed with a combination of cash on hand and lease financing. Terms were not disclosed.
For Smith, whose father Woodie Smith started Angler's Mini-Marts with a single store 30 years ago, the selling of the stores is not the end of the line. We've got other businesses, he said. We're in the warehouse business, and I've got two deals pending right now outside of the convenience store industry.
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