DALLAS -- Continuing its Texas-focused growth strategy, Empire Petroleum Partners LLC has closed on 11 former Corner Store convenience stores in the Lubbock, Texas, region that it has acquired from CST Brands Inc.
The addition of the CST convenience store locations expands Empire Petroleum's market presence in the Texas panhandle, and continues to increase its business partnership with fuel supplier Valero Energy Corp.
The company most recently acquired certain retail distribution assets of Mansfield Oil Co. of Gainesville, Inc. in September 2014, and it said it is in the process of completing additional acquisitions, which it expects to complete by the end of the year.
"The addition of these locations to Empire is evidence of our continued commitment to our acquisition strategy, especially in the state of Texas" said Empire Petroleum's CEO, Hank Heithaus. "The Lubbock acquisition presents a great opportunity for us to expand our operations further into west Texas."
To ensure continued success of the assets, Empire Petroleum intends to hire all of the former CST employees to continue at the stores, the company said.
As reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, the 11 sites were part of a larger sale for CST conducted by Chicago-based NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC that consisted of 116 operating and former convenience stores with gas located throughout Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
The bidding process concluded on June 24, 2014.
During CST Brands' third-quarter 2014 earnings call on November 11, Kim Lubel, chairman, president and CE, offered an update on the sale--first announced in March--of approximately 100 convenience stores that the company is divesting as part of its network optimization plan.
"Bids for these convenience stores have been received and evaluated by our management team, and we expect to close on the sale of 85 to 95 of these convenience stores over the next two quarters. As of today, we've already closed on 12 of those sites," she said.
CST Brands is one of the largest independent retailers of motor fuels and convenience merchandise in North America. Based in San Antonio, it has approximately 1,900 locations throughout the Southwestern United States and Eastern Canada.
Empire Petroleum is a leading motor fuels distributor of top brands including Shell, Chevron, Valero, Sunoco, BP, Exxon, Citgo, Mobil, Marathon, Texaco, Gulf and ConocoPhillips. Based in Dallas, it distributes motor fuel products to gas stations in 28 states to more than 1,200 customers.
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