One week after closing on its $1.3 billion acquisition of TravelCenters of America, bp has begun the task of aligning the new business with its strategies, beginning with new leadership oversight.
Today, bp announced it has named Debi Boffa as CEO-designate and Babu Rajalingam as chief financial officer-designate of TravelCenters of America (TA), each taking three to six months to work with outgoing CEO Jonathan Pertchik and CFO Peter Crage to get comfortable with the TA business.
Boffa is currently president of bp’s Retail Operate Organization, which includes the ampm and Thorntons convenience-store chains. That position will be filled by Lisa Blalock, who was vice president of marketing for bp’s Mobility and Convenience America business.
“Debi … brings a wealth of experience in the retail convenience space,” Greg Franks, senior vice president of mobility and convenience for the Americas, told CSP. “She has led the Thorntons and the ampm teams through the integration very effectively. She’s a wonderful leader. She’s also garnered the trust of her team and she preserved that culture inside of Thorntons and ampm. … We want to bring that experience of leading that integration forward to TA.”
BP closed on its acquisition of TravelCenters of America on May 15. The more than 280 truckstops will keep their TA, Petro or TA Express brand names, Franks told CSP, and the level of service will remain the same for drivers. But longer term, the Chicago-based company said the transaction will provide options to expand and continue to develop convenience and mobility offers through four of bp’s five transition growth engines: electric-vehicle charging, biofuels, hydrogen and convenience.
Watch for additional details from CSP Daily News.
- As of the beginning of this year, bp was No. 7 and TravelCenters of America No. 29 on CSP’s Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by company-owned store count.
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