CrossAmerica Partners LP and its Lehigh Gas Wholesale Services Inc. subsidiary entered into an agreement in late January to acquire 59 convenience stores from Applegreen Midwest and Applegreen Florida for $16.9 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On Feb. 20, in connection with this acquisition, CrossAmerica entered into an amended 2019 bank credit agreement involving certain lease termination expenses. CrossAmerica will acquire the assets through termination of the partnership’s existing lease agreements with Applegreen at the acquired locations.
The c-stores are in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and in Florida.
CrossAmerica will also acquire the inventory at the locations for cash. The terms of the partnership’s existing leases with Applegreen Midwest LLC and Applegreen Florida LLC can be extended to 2049 and 2048, respectively, including all renewal options. The companies expect the termination of the existing lease agreements to occur during the first and second quarters of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.
“Applegreen has decided to return these sites to its landlord and is focused on continuing to grow its presence in the U.S. travel plaza sector,” an Applegreen spokesperson told CSP.
- Applegreen is No. 32 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by size. CrossAmerica is No. 33.
Applegreen began in 1992 with the opening of its first gas station in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland. Under the leadership of Chairman Bob Etchingham and CEO Joe Barrett, Applegreen has expanded to more than 600 convenience stores in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its U.S. locations are in the Midwest, the Northeast and the Southeast.
Applegreen entered the U.S. market in 2014, expanded its small foothold in 2016 and in 2017 acquired The Brandi Group, which operated the 42-unit Pitt Stop convenience-store chain based in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2019, it acquired a 40% stake in CT Service Plazas, consisting of 23 on-highway facilities in Connecticut.
CrossAmerica Partners, Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels, convenience-store operator and owner and lessor of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels. Its general partner, CrossAmerica GP LLC, is indirectly owned and controlled by entities affiliated with Joseph V. Topper Jr., the founder of CrossAmerica Partners and a member of the board of the general partner since 2012. Formed in 2012, CrossAmerica Partners LP is a distributor of branded and unbranded petroleum for motor vehicles in the United States and distributes fuel to approximately 1,700 locations and owns or leases approximately 1,100 sites. With a geographic footprint covering 34 states, the partnership has relationships with major oil brands including ExxonMobil, bp, Shell, Sunoco, Valero, Gulf, CITGO, Marathon and Phillips 66.
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