SANFORD, N.C. -- The Pantry Inc. continued its most recent growth spurt with the announced acquisition yesterday of 19 convenience stores from Lee-Moore Oil Co., as reported yesterday in a CSP Daily News Flash.
On the surface the deal may look like just another in a string of recent acquisitions by The Pantry, inclusive of one just last week of 39 stores from Vicksburg, Miss.-based Waring Oil Co. But the Lee-Moore purchase is a coming home of sorts in that Lee-Moore actually started The Pantry in 1967.
Recounting the company's [image-nocss] nearly 70-year history, Kirk Bradley, president and CEO for Lee-Moore told CSP Daily News that his grandfather, Truby Proctor, began Lee-Moore's petroleum distribution business back in 1937. A generation later, Bradley's uncle, Truby G. Proctor Jr., along with another business partner, Sam Wornom, started The Pantry. The relationship between Lee-Moore and The Pantry would evolve, turning into one of property management in the 1980s and then full selloff of Lee-Moore's share in c-stores to The Pantry in 1995. Lee-Moore moved on to operate the petroleum distributorship and a small chain of c-stores, which has been running under the TruBuy name and through Mobil's On The Run concept. The operations generated total revenue of approximately $66 million in 2004.
It was a difficult decision, Bradley said of the recent sale. The market has indicated that companies like ours do not have a real place.
Bradley said that as a 55-million-gallon-per-year jobber, they needed to grow in order to remain viable; however, the Southeast is a saturated market, he said, so growth was difficult to do in our area.
The acquisition of Lee-Moore, a company also based in Sanford, N.C., comes at the heels of last week's 39-store deal in which The Pantry acquired Waring Oil Co.'s convenience business. Terms of both deals were not disclosed, with both sales expected to conclude in the beginning of 2006.
Peter Sodini, president and CEO of The Pantry, said the deal strengthens our position in North Carolina and allows for an extension of its branding and fuel supply agreement with Houston-based Exxon Mobil Corp. According to a statement by The Pantry, Lee-Moore supplied about 20 additional sites with petroleum product.
The Lee-Moore name will continue in that the company retains a real estate operation, Bradley said, noting that he will continue to lead that entity (which for the time being will remain Lee-Moore Oil Co.). Commenting on the sale toof all chainsThe Pantry, Bradley said, We thought it was appropriate. Getting the two halves back together is good.
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