JACKSONVILLE, Fla., and ASHEVILLE, N.C. --First Coast Energy paid $10 million for more than a dozen Mountain Energy properties in North Carolina’s Buncombe County, the Citizen-Times reported.
The purchase is part of an acquisition deal between Jacksonville, Fla.-based First Coast Energy and Asheville, N.C.-based Mountain Energy. First Coast acquired 20 convenience stores from Mountain Energy, as well as its related companies, as previously reported in CSP Daily News. Those other assets include Mountain Tank Lines, a trucking company, and Mountain Energy Home Heat, a home-heating-oil company.
Of the Buncombe County properties, a 2-acre site that houses a Shell gas station, convenience store and Dairy Queen was the most expensive at $3.8 million, according to documents filed with the Buncombe County Register of Deeds on Sept. 2.
The 3-acre site of Mountain Energy’s home-heating-oil distribution center sold for about $1 million, the deed says.
The recorded price of each property is a bit misleading, Thomas Morgan, the former owner of Mountain Energy who sold the chain to retire, said to the Citizen Times.
He said because the properties were purchased as part of a larger business deal, the values assigned to each one don’t correlate to individual market value.
“We agreed on an overall purchase price,” he told the newspaper. “They take the big picture, and they divide it up however they want to divide it up.”
First Coast Energy, which does business as Daily’s and has more than 100 locations, said it plans to keep the Mountain Energy properties as gas stations and c-stores.
“We intend to rebuild several Mountain Energy locations incorporating the Daily's concept,” said Aubrey Edge, CEO of First Coast Energy, in a statement to the Citizen-Times. “We will also seek out new locations within the area.”
First Coast Energy LLP was founded in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1997. The company owns, operates or distributes Shell gasoline to 187 stations and stores in Florida and southeast Georgia. The company’s large c-stores, which are branded Daily’s, are located throughout Northern Florida.
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.