RACETRAC TO ACQUIRE GULF OIL

Dive Brief:

• Convenience retailer RaceTrac Inc. has agreed to acquire wholesale fuel distributor Gulf Oil LLC for an undisclosed amount, according to a Wednesday announcement.
• RaceTrac’s wholly owned wholesale fuel supply and trading subsidiary, Metroplex Energy, will acquire Gulf’s 1,200 branded locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It also will acquire all of Gulf’s branded distributor and license agreements, as well as the exclusive rights to market fuel at Gulf’s retail locations along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
• This marks the largest acquisition in RaceTrac’s history and expands its family of companies to nearly 40 states and Puerto Rico, CEO Max McBrayer said in the announcement.
  

Dive Insight:

While the c-store industry saw a major oil company use M&A to build out its c-store arm earlier this year, RaceTrac has taken the opposite approach by growing its branded fueling network. The deal not only brings RaceTrac’s overall footprint to most of the U.S. but notably gives the company a strong foothold in the northeast, where it does not operate any convenience stores or wholesale facilities besides one Metroplex site in Baltimore.

Most of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts-based Gulf’s locations are in the northeast, including in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

As the fuel marketplace undergoes “historic and fundamental change,” RaceTrac is committed to investing in and growing its transportation fuels network, AJ Siccardi, president of Metroplex Energy, said in the announcement.

“The combination of Gulf’s outstanding distributor network and RaceTrac’s history of driving retail fuel volume creates a tremendous opportunity to serve dealers and distributors in a manner that will make their sites successful fueling destinations of the future,” Siccardi said.

A RaceTrac spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the price of the acquisition. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within 60 to 90 days.

Atlanta-based RaceTrac owns and operates 566 convenience stores in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee. When including its c-store subsidiary RaceWay, the retailer also operates over 200 additional locations in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Texas.

RaceTrac’s Metroplex Energy facilities are located across Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland.

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