"This geography is the next logical progression from our last acquisition from BP in the Northwest Indiana market, [moving] us into the Chicago market," Mike [image-nocss] Evans, executive vice president of business development for Atlas Oil Co., told CSP Daily News. He went on to say that these stores "are logistically next to a market in which we already operate and have been strong performers for BP for many years."
The deal, which has been in the works since July 2008, puts Atlas as the fuel supplier to a total of 354 gas stations, approximately 90 of which are branded BP.
As reported yesterday in a CSP Daily News Flash, the latest deal includes a number of retail locations owned by BP, several dealer-owned sites and an agreement for Atlas to continue to grow the BP and ampm franchise presence in this strategic market. Atlas Oil will run the new operation from its South Bend, Ind., operations center, where itcurrently manages the supply of more than 129 retail locations.
According to Evans, Atlas Oil will operate some of the sites, but the majority will be run by dealers. He added that all will continue to be operated as BP sites, but some will convert to the ampm c-store brand owned by BP.
"With their third acquisition in less than 12 months, Atlas is rapidly becoming one of the largest BP jobbers in the Midwest," Sean Daley, vice president of Midwest sales for BP Products North America, said in a company press release.
As for any future acquisitions, Evans would only say, "Yes, our best days are still ahead of us."
Based in Taylor, Mich., Atlas Oil is a major distributor of petroleum products and related services in the Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.