TAYLOR, Mich. -- In a deal that strategically expands its regional network, Atlas Oil Co. is acquiring 33 more retail gas stations/convenience stores in Southwest Chicago and the surrounding suburbs from BP Products North America Inc. As reported in a CSP Daily News Flash yesterday, the acquisition brings Atlas Oil's total BP station count in the Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana region to 113.
Mike Evans, executive vice president of business development for Taylor, Mich.-based Atlas Oil, told CSP Daily News, "Clearly we've found it advantageous to expand [image-nocss] our Chicago-area presence, and we'll continue to look to do so in the future."
He said that within this group of stations, there are some BP company-owned, company-operated stations, some company-owned and dealer-operated stations and some that are dealer supply contracts. In some cases, BP had sold off the asset off to an individual a couple of years ago and that individual has been operating it under a supply agreement.
"We [typically] give the incumbent dealer the opportunity to purchase the location," Evans said. Ownership changes are on a "case-by-case basis."
"As wholesaler and a distributor, our main emphasis is supply," he said.
To help BP expand the ampm store brand, said Evans, at least one of the sites in this package will be converted from BP Connect [BP's previous c-store brand] to ampm.
This is Atlas Oil's third major acquisition from BP in the last year. Other transactions include the purchase of 23 sites in September 2008 as well as another 57 sites in January 2009. When complete, Atlas Oil will manage the supply of nearly 400 retail locations in total throughout the United States.
Although he wouldn't venture any specifics, Evans said additional acquisitions are a "legitimate possibility."
But unlike some companies that acquire sites in various, unrelated markets, Atlas Oil's growth strategy is more targeted than scattershot. "We're being very selective. We're really only looking for strong additions in the markets where we're operating at this point. One of our core values in 'grow or go.' That's something we live by. So we're always looking at growth. It's something a successful company needs to continue to do in a market that tends to get tighter and tighter. We do have some long-term growth goals, but they are fairly strategic. We're not looking for growth for growth's sake. We want to make sure we grow the right way, with deals that make sense for our company."
Atlas Oil "continues to look for opportunities that fit both our strategic vision of becoming a five-billion-gallon supplier as well as for opportunities that fit within our operational logistics and supply efficiencies and advantages," he said.
In a press statement, Evans said, "Despite challenging economic conditions nationally and in our home state of Michigan, we continue to meet our growth objectives in the Midwest market. Each acquisition expands the markets in which we can prospect for new opportunities, and we look forward to being able to further develop our relationship with BP by converting additional locations to the BP brand."
Sean Daley, vice president of Midwest sales of BP Products North America, said, "Atlas Oil Co. has proven to be a great business partner for BP. Atlas' distribution, supply management and operational capabilities have given us considerable confidence and trust in their ability to manage these BP-branded retail assets in one of the most important Midwest markets for BP and the ampm franchise offer."
With this purchase, scheduled to close in June, Atlas will now distribute more than 300 million gallons of fuel annually for BP, making it one of BP's largest distributors.
Atlas Oil is a national fuel distributor and fuel supply management provider that meets the fuel distribution and service needs of businesses, governments and more than 375 gas stations in 19 states and Ontario, Canada. The company has operational centers in Indiana, Texas and Ohio.
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