Appco Parent Waits on Refinancing
RICHARDSON, Texas – Titan Global Holdings, parent company of c-store operator Appalachian Oil Co., waited out the weekend for debt refinancing to help it overcome liquidity issues that has left area Appco convenience stores without gas and, in some cases, Tennessee Lottery tickets, according to a report by the Kingsport Times.
Appco CEO Marty Anderson told the newspaper late Friday "last-minute legal details" pushed the deal back to yesterday or today. As of presstime, it was unknown if Titan Global had received the debt refinancing approval. A call to its offices by CSNews Online was unreturned by press time.
As a result, many of Appco convenience stores had to survive the weekend without products including gas, Tennessee lottery tickets and possibly cigarettes, according to the report.
Anderson also told the paper he was concerned about Appco’s approximately 300 employees, but was confident the refinancing will set things right.
Anderson expected the cash infusion will have gas flowing within 24 hours of Appco receiving the money, while lottery tickets will be back up within a week. He called the removal of the Tennessee lottery from its stores as "due to nonpayment of a small invoice," and added the service would be reinstated in the 24 Tennessee stores upon completion of the refinance, according to the report.
In addition, by mid-December Appco suspended the fuel supply contracts of dozens of independent convenience stores.
Ravi Patel, owner of the Seven Star Stop in Johnson City, Tenn., is one such customer. "I’ve been with Appco since March of 2007. It’s been this whole month we’ve had this problem," he told TriCities.com in late December.
Patel added an Appco representative told him the company was tight due to the credit crunch.
"He gave me a solution on how to get gas. He gave me another distributor, Coffman Distributor, in Johnson City. For the past three times we’ve been getting gas from them," he said.
Appco CEO Marty Anderson told the newspaper late Friday "last-minute legal details" pushed the deal back to yesterday or today. As of presstime, it was unknown if Titan Global had received the debt refinancing approval. A call to its offices by CSNews Online was unreturned by press time.
As a result, many of Appco convenience stores had to survive the weekend without products including gas, Tennessee lottery tickets and possibly cigarettes, according to the report.
Anderson also told the paper he was concerned about Appco’s approximately 300 employees, but was confident the refinancing will set things right.
Anderson expected the cash infusion will have gas flowing within 24 hours of Appco receiving the money, while lottery tickets will be back up within a week. He called the removal of the Tennessee lottery from its stores as "due to nonpayment of a small invoice," and added the service would be reinstated in the 24 Tennessee stores upon completion of the refinance, according to the report.
In addition, by mid-December Appco suspended the fuel supply contracts of dozens of independent convenience stores.
Ravi Patel, owner of the Seven Star Stop in Johnson City, Tenn., is one such customer. "I’ve been with Appco since March of 2007. It’s been this whole month we’ve had this problem," he told TriCities.com in late December.
Patel added an Appco representative told him the company was tight due to the credit crunch.
"He gave me a solution on how to get gas. He gave me another distributor, Coffman Distributor, in Johnson City. For the past three times we’ve been getting gas from them," he said.