COLD SPRING, Ohio - A new receiver has been assigned to manage day-to-day operations of the parent company for AmeriStop convenience stores, reported The Enquirer.
On Tuesday, Leonard Z. Eppel, president of Financial Resource Associates in Blue Ash, Ohio, stepped down as the court-appointed receiver for Petro Acquisitions Inc., which franchises about 140 gas stations and convenience stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Richard Nelson of the Cincinnati law firm Cohen, Todd, Kite & Stanford has been appointed to replace him, [image-nocss] according to the report.
Petro Acquisitions had said it would begin filing Chapter 11 proceedings in federal bankruptcy court Tuesday, according to Hamilton County court documents cited by the newspaper.
Eppel said he stepped aside after it became apparent that lenders involved in the case did not want to work with him. I don't think it had anything to do with us. I think they simply wanted to control the process, hetold the paper.
A Cincinnati venture-capital fund had filed suit against Petro Acquisitions. The lawsuit by Walnut Investment Partners alleges Petro Acquisitions breached a contract in June when it failed to pay $2.5 million it owed Walnut as part of an $8.75 million stock-buyback deal. Since then, majority owner Don Bloom has resigned as Cold Spring, Ohio-based AmeriStop's president.
At least 25 franchisees representing 44 area stores have asked to sign onto Walnut's lawsuit, the report said. They allege that Ohio Valley AFM Inc.an affiliate of Petro Acquisitionshas failed to pay vendors on a timely basis, causing certain gasoline and food suppliers to stop deliveries.
Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of Petro Acqusitions.
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