MECHANICSVILLE, Va. -- In what David McComas promises to be just the first of a couple of major deals, Fas Mart/Shore Stop parent company GPM Investments LLC signed an agreement Tuesday to acquire a privately owned convenience-store chain in the Southeast.
[This is] the first large corporate acquisition we've taken down since the DB Marts in 2003, so we're very excited about it, McComas, president and CEO of the company, told CSP Daily News. We like this operation, and they've done a really, really nice job. There are a lot of synergies already [image-nocss] between the organizations. He refused to name the company purchased at the company's request.
GPM had announced the signing of a letter of intent to purchase the chain back in March, but McComas said, We signed the [purchase] agreement late [Tuesday] afternoon and met with their key people.
The company expects to close the $46 million transaction during the fourth quarter of 2007.
The seller operates 58 locations in Virginia and Tennessee, all in new markets for Fas Mart, according to McComas. Of those locations, 55 are gasoline facilities. The seller also operates food-service franchises at 12 of its convenience stores. The turnover of the acquired outlets totaled $132 million in 2006.
GPM intends to operate the stores under the Fas Mart brand name and expects to hire the majority of the personnel of the seller.
McComas said the acquisition is something of a change of direction for growth of the Fas Mart brand. The last couple of acquisitions we've done have been a lot of dealer business, he said. It has been supply business and being landlords as opposed to company-operated stores, which the recent deal is.
And it won't be long before we hear similar news from Fas Mart again. We're not done yet. [There's] more to come, McComas said, very soon.
The funding for such growth is partially made possible by an infusion of capital into the company from Russian-Israeli billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak, who earlier this month acquired 65% of Ameris Holdings, majority owner of Petro Group, which owns the Fas Mart/Shore Stop network in the Mid-Atlantic and eastern United States.
After Gaydamak's investment was announced, McComas told CSP Daily News, We're very excited about the change. Day-to-day management here and with our parent company in Israel won't change. What is changing is we're looking at more capital infusion. Our plans are to grow more rapidly than before.
GPM is headquartered in Mechanicsville, Va., and operates 145 stores as Fas Mart or Shore Stop in the states of Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. GPM also supplies petroleum products to a network of 135 independent third-party dealers.
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