RENO, Nev. -- Berry-Hinckley Industries recently entered into a contract to sell the company to Jerry Herbst, owner of the Terrible Herbst chain. Herbst will acquire the existing Nevada businesses of Berry-Hinckley including 33 Winner's Corner convenience stores and Chevron gas stations, along with three car washes.
Herbst will also acquire the rights from Berry-Hinckley to develop seven additional c-store/station sites in northern Nevada and the rights to purchase Winners Gaming Inc., a slot route operator in northern Nevada affiliated with Berry-Hinckley, as well as an option to acquire [image-nocss] the Chevron gasoline distribution terminal in Sparks, Nev., from Nella Oil Co.
In mid-January, Auburn, Calif.-based Nella acquired Berry-Hinckley's petroleum wholesale, terminal, lubricants, transportation and cardlock business assets.
For more than 50 years, my family has been committed to growing our business in Nevada"and with the acquisition of Berry-Hinckley Industries, we now have the opportunity to bring the Terrible Herbst brand back to northern Nevada. With the acquisition of The Sands Regent by Herbst Gaming, Inc., and now this acquisition, our family has a significant investment in northern Nevada and has tremendous confidence in the region's future, said Jerry Herbst.
Paul Morabito, who with a group of partners acquired Berry-Hinckley from the Berry and Hinckley families in 2005, said he did not buy Berry-Hinckley with an eye toward taking it apart to sell its component units. But it ended up that way, and the investors who came along with Morabito when he bought the Reno, Nev.-based company a couple of years ago did just fine as a result, he told the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
We didn't buy it to sell it. We bought it as a long-term investment, he told the newspaper. Initially, the strategy of Morabito and his investors was to grow Berry-Hinckley, and the company struck deals to acquire the Bully's chain of sports bars based in Reno as well as gaming-and-gasoline operator Cashell Enterprises. Those deals came unraveled last autumn. At the same time that he was pursuing acquisitions, Morabito also was fielding calls from people with their eyes on one piece or another of Berry-Hinckley's interests. Finally, it got to a point where it was either go away or give me an offer, he said.
The only way [Herbst] could establish his business model in northern Nevada was to buy us, Morabito added.
"After the sale to Herbst is completed, our investor group plans to seek the necessary permits and Nevada Gaming Control Board approval in order to build a new truckstop and casino at exit 48 in Fernley; and we will continue to operate our 30 Jiffy Lube franchises in Nevada and California, as well as 11 Superpumper Shell gas stations in Scottsdale, Ariz. Morabito said in a statement.
The transaction price was not disclosed. The parties anticipate the deal to close this month. The acquisition of Winners Gaming will require approval from Nevada Gaming Authorities and is expected to close in late 2007 or early 2008.
Concerning the Nella deal, Morabito said at the time that it allowed Berry-Hinckley to focus on retail. We attempted to grow the company by way of acquisitions and mergers last year, but quickly realized that the wide range of nonretail businesses that we were in, especially in the volatile wholesale fuel business, worked against our achieving our goals, he said. Nella wants to focus on the wholesale market, and going forward, Berry-Hinckleyis purely a retail company with gaming."
Terrible Herbst, Las Vegas, currently operates 125 c-stores/stations, 25 car washes and 21 lubes in Nevada, California, Arizona and Utah.
Berry-Hinckley now operates 38 Winner's Corner c-stores and Chevron stations, along with three carwashes in northern Nevada. Berry-Hinckley is affiliated with Winners Gaming, which operates more than 800 slot machines at Winner's Corner Chevron stations as well as bars, restaurants and other facilities in northern Nevada.
Nella"controlled by the Dwelle family" is a fuel wholesale, retail and cardlock company operating Flyers and Olympian c-stores; it is also a branded distributor of Chevron, Shell and Valero fuels for wholesale and retail customers.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.