Clarification: An initial version of this story reported that this deal involved five convenience stores. It is nine c-stores.
LA PLATA, Md. --The Wills Group, the parent company of the Dash In convenience store chain, has acquired the retail fuel and convenience store business of Tevis Oil Inc. The acquisition was finalized on Sept. 7 and includes all of Tevis Oil’s retail business, which consists of nine retail locations, including five Jiffy Mart locations and four other four retail fuel stations, located primarily in northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania.
SMO Inc., doing business as SMO Motor Fuels and Dash In, will continue operation of the retail locations under the Jiffy Mart brand. With this acquisition, The Wills Group and SMO will now operate 285 locations across the Mid-Atlantic region.
“Jiffy Mart joins a strong family of brands across our retail business, which includes Dash In, Splash In ECO Car Wash and SMO Motor Fuels,” said Julian B. (Blackie) Wills, III, executive vice president of The Wills Group’s retail marketing division. “We look forward to expanding our footprint into Carroll County and southern Pennsylvania and having the opportunity to serve customers there.”
The Wills Group is working to complete the process of transitioning supplier and vendor agreements to SMO, and is also working to integrate the Jiffy Mart line of business into its retail fuels and c-store operations.
Based in Westminster, Md., Tevis Oil is a motor-fuel distributor and energy solutions provider in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Stanley H. Tevis Sr. founded the company, originally known as S.H. Tevis & Son, in 1932 as a local fuels distributor in Westminster. It started as a Gulf Oil commissioned agent selling gasoline, diesel and heating oil to businesses, farms and residences in the Carroll County area in Maryland.
In 1981, the company opened its first convenience store, originally called Tevco, which was a self-service truckstop featuring unbranded gasoline and hot food, drinks and a variety of convenience items. After the success of the first store, Tevis continued to open new stores over the years. In 1987, the Jiffy Mart brand was born, and by 2001, the company rebranded all of its Tevco stores as Jiffy Mart.
Tevis Oil will continue to operate and is looking to grow its home comfort solutions, commercial fuels and HVAC businesses, consisting of Tevis Energy (heating oil, diesel and gasoline sales to residential and commercial customers); Tevis Propane (propane sales to residential and commercial customers); and Modern Comfort Systems (HVAC installation, repair and maintenance).
Jack Tevis, who represents the third generation of the Tevis family, will continue to lead the company.
Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc., Richmond, Va., provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Tevis, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process and negotiation of the transaction.
Dash In, a Wills Group company, is a convenience-store chain with more than 50 locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. Based in La Plata, Md., The Wills Group Inc. is a family-owned company that serves markets in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. It is the parent company of SMO Energy, a provider of propane, heating oil and HVAC equipment in southern Maryland, Dash In Food Stores, Splash In ECO Car Wash and SMO Motor Fuels, and it operates Potomac Energy Holdings.
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