Arko Corp. put its stamp on another seven convenience stores in August with its acquisition of seven Speedy's Food and Fuel sites in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The acquisition—Arko Corp.'s 25th deal since 2013—was revealed in the retailer's third-quarter earnings report.
Prior to the acquisition, Arko Corp. had supplied fuel to these sites, which were operated by an independent dealer. The purchase at closing was approximately $13.7 million, including cash and inventory in the stores, of which approximately $10.4 million was paid by Arko financial partner Oak Street under the program agreement for fee-simple ownership in three of the properties.
At the closing, pursuant to the agreement, Arko Corp. entered into a master lease with Oak Street for the sites. For accounting purposes, the transaction with Oak Street was treated as a sale-leaseback, and Arko recorded right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities of approximately $8.8 million in connection with the stores.
As of the closing, Arko leases the remaining four sites from the seller, and Oak Street is expected to purchase the fee simple ownership in these sites from the seller for approximately $10.3 million within 20 months from the closing of the Speedy acquisition, and then lease these sites to Arko Corp.
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Arko owns 100% of GPM Investments LLC and is one of the largest operators of convenience stores and wholesalers of fuel in the United States. Based in Richmond, Virginia, its family of community c-store brands includes Fas Mart, Shore Stop, Scotchman, BreadBox, Young's, Li'l Cricket, Next Door Store, Village Pantry, Apple Market, Jiffi Stop, Admiral, Roadrunner Markets, Jiffy Food Marts, E-Z Mart, 1 Stop, TownStar, ExpressStop and Handy Mart.