LEXINGTON, S.C. -- Applegreen plc and Petrogas Global Ltd. have acquired seven convenience stores from Carolina Convenience Corp., as well as its wholesale fuels distribution business in South Carolina.
Carolina Convenience operated eight S-Mart c-stores in Columbia, S.C., and supplied dealers primarily in the Columbia market with a few dealers in eastern South Carolina.
The company was a jobber for BP, ExxonMobil and Sunoco and also supplied unbranded motor fuels to a few of its dealers. The S-Mart stores offer BP- and Exxon-branded motor fuels as well as a full array of convenience merchandise, and one of the stores is co-branded with a Hardee’s restaurant. The company will continue to operate the Hardee’s business after closing, as well as one c-store at a separate location.
In addition to its petroleum marketing and c-store business, Carolina Convenience also operates several Hardee’s restaurants in the Columbia market that were not included in the sale to Applegreen. After nearly 37 years of operation, it is divesting substantially all of its c-store and petroleum marketing business to focus on the operation of its Hardee’s restaurants and other business ventures.
Based in Lexington, S.C., Carolina Convenience is a second-generation, family-owned company founded in 1981 by Madhu and Sulochana Shrivastava and now managed by Madhu Shrivastava, chairman and CEO, and Seema Shrivastava-Patel, president.
Applegreen has retained the company’s c-store employees at the acquired stores.
Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc., Richmond, Va., provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Carolina Convenience, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction.
Founded in 1992, Dublin-based Applegreen operates 274 c-stores and gas stations in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and it has 68 locations in the United States. It has strategic partnerships with international brands, including Burger King, Subway, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Lavazza, Chopstix, Freshii and 7-Eleven. The company also has its own foodservice offering through the Bakewell brand.
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