WOOSTER, Ohio -- Four months after Ports Petroleum Co. announced a change of strategy that included selling off its 62-store Fuel Mart chain and three Tobacco Town discount and specialty tobacco outlets, about two-thirds of the sites have been claimed by new owners.
Most recently, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Laval, Quebec, announced that its subsidiary, Mac's Convenience Stores LLC, has signed an agreement with Ports to purchase seven stores in Ohio. Most of these stores are located around the Cleveland area.
The other stores [image-nocss] are contracted to many different buyers, according to a spokesperson for Richmond, Va.-based Matrix Capital Group, which handled the auctioning of the stores. About 20 stores in Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota, remain to be sold as Wooster, Ohio-based Ports exits the retailing business.
We spent the last couple years trying to acquire stores, and we just felt that the prices for properties we've been trying to acquire were in excess of what we were willing to pay, president Michael Ports told CSP Daily News in June, when the auction was announced. At one point we just said, If we can't be a buyer, maybe we should be a seller.'
Ports Petroleum is still operating its sizeable wholesale operations, which serve commercial, government and retail locations in 15 states with gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel.
Meanwhile, Couche-Tard's purchase agreement, announced yesterday, is for seven c-stores currently operated under the Fuel Mart banner, all with motor fuel facilities and one with a quick-service restaurant under the Subway banner.
Pursuant to this transaction, the company would buy the land and buildings for six locations and would lease the other one. According to a confidentiality agreement between the parties, the purchase price cannot be disclosed, the company said, but it will be paid by using internal cash flow.
Should this transaction close as planned on November 3, these acquisitions would add sales of approximately $35 million (U.S.) to Couche-Tard's revenues and contribute to its earnings on an annualized basis.
We are pleased with this opportunity, which allows us to complement the network expansion plans in the Midwest, said Michel Bernard, vice president of operations for the Midwest for Mac's. Consistent with our development strategy, we selected these seven stores based on the following criteria: prime locations, potential for growth and quality of people. Under our operation model and with the efficiency of our marketing programs, these seven sites would contribute to improve profitability of the Midwest Division. Subsequent to this transaction, our network in the Midwest Division would include a total of 499 stores. These sites are located within the areas of our existing Circle K stores and would eventually be operated under the Circle K banner.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is the leader in the Canadian c-store industry. In North America, Couche-Tard is the third-largest c-store operator and the second-largest independent (not integrated with a petroleum company) c-store operator. Couche-Tard currently operates a network of 4,861 c-stores, 3,035 of which include motor-fuel dispensing.
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