True North Energy LLC, a joint venture between the Lyden family and Shell Oil Co., has closed on the purchase of 15 fee-owned convenience retailing and petroleum marketing assets of Wagner Shell Co. and its affiliates in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, market.
This acquisition comes three years after True North’s entry into Wisconsin and as the Lyden family celebrates 105 years in business.
The Wagner Stores were owned by Mellissa Wagner and family.
“The network of stores built by Howie and Melissa Wagner present a great opportunity for truenorth to expand our brand in Wisconsin, while adding excellent facilities to our portfolio,” Mark Lyden, True North’s president and CEO, said.
Antigo, Wisconsin-based Wagner Oil was started in the 1950s by Harvey Wagner, and in the 1970s, Howard Wagner became involved and began building their first convenience stores. In 1984, Wagner Oil made the conversion to being a Shell Oil company and continued to grow the sale of Shell Oil gallons and building additional convenience stores.
Melissa Wagner said the sale of the stores is “bittersweet.” She and Howard Wagner enjoyed building and operating the convenience stores, but Melissa knew the time was right to step away from the business and pursue other interests, they said.
- True North Energy is No. 48 in CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by total number of company-owned retail outlets.
The newly acquired stores will continue to offer the Shell fuel brand, but the company will reimage the convenience stores to the truenorth brand. “True North will continue to provide area customers with quality products, exceptional service and competitive fuel prices, as we realize customers have a choice where they purchase their fuel and convenience items,” said Lyden.
Brecksville, Ohio-based True North Energy now offers fuel and convenience items at 186 company-operated stores, in addition to supplying fuel to 300 Shell-, bp-, Amoco-, Marathon- and Arco-branded dealers. The company’s stores are located primarily in the Chicago; Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit and Traverse City, Michigan; and Green Bay, Wisconsin, markets.
John Wagner and family will continue to own Wagner Oil’s wholesale fuel and transportation businesses, which were not part of the transaction. American Business Brokers & Advisors, Fort Myers Beach, Florida, provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Wagner Oil, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential process and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was managed by Terry Monroe, president of American Business Brokers & Advisors, managed the transaction. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.
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