WAUSAU, Wis. -- Newly formed investment group Riiser Fuels LLC has acquired the 34-unit R-Store convenience-store chain Riiser Energy in Wisconsin from owners Dudley Investments LLC, Wildcatters LLC and Kemerling Investments LLC, according to a report by The Wausau Daily Herald.
The companies did not disclose the terms of the transaction.
Durham, N.C.-based Riiser Fuels will hire the company’s 320 employees, Jim Kemerling, president and CEO of Riiser Energy, told the newspaper.
"The new owners will use their 65 years of combined experience in investing, financing and operating within the c-store and wholesale-fuel industry to help Riiser continue to grow into a larger regional operation,” he said in a statement obtained by the Wausau Daily Herald.
Don Draughon and J.D. Dykstra formed Riiser Fuels to make investments in the c-store industry, the report said. “Riiser Fuels is committed to growing the chain within the upper Midwest into a regional company and expanding the brand throughout the region,” Dykstra said. “We will utilize the Riiser name and team as the foundation for that growth.”
Previously, c-store industry investor Dykstra formed Fuel USA LLC in 2015 to acquire the assets of Workman Oil Co., Forest, Va., a retailer with 52 c-stores in central and southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky operating primarily under the Apple Market banner. GPM Investments LLC, Richmond, Va., took ownership of 42 Apple Market convenience stores and supply to 20 dealer-operated stores in 2016.
Arthur Riiser formed Wausau, Wis.-based Riiser Energy in 1945. His son, Tom Riiser, took over the business in 1958 and operated the company for the next 40 years. He sold it to Richard Dudley and James Kemerling in 1999. Dudley became chairman and Kemerling became president and CEO. Over the next few years, Riiser Energy acquired several companies with c-stores and truckstops. In 2004, the stores were rebranded to the R-Store name. The retail gas division now includes 30 c-stores and three truckstops branded Mobil, Cenex or BP, as well as a fleet of 20 delivery trucks.
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