Cumberland Farms Stockholders Invest in Uni-Marts

The family of Demetrios Haseotes, the principal stockholders of Canton, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms Inc., has acquired ownership of 651,400 shares of common stock, or 9.23 percent of the outstanding common stock, of Uni-Marts Inc. However, both companies said the investment was not made on behalf of or in concert with Cumberland Farms.

Uni-Marts revealed the transaction, carried out by HP Limited Partnership, an investment group headed by the Haseotes family, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Uni-Marts operates 301 convenience stores and Choice Cigarette Discount Outlets in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Fuel is sold at 237 of the locations. Cumberland Farms operates approximately 1,000 convenience stores in 11 East Coast states.

The filing also said 342,700 of the shares would be acquired by HP Limited Partnership before August 22 directly from Jericho, N.Y.-based Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., which holds a 5-percent interest in the State College, Pa.-based chain. Following the sale of its shares Getty would no longer hold an interest in Uni-Marts.

In its SEC filing, HP Limited Partnership said it acquired Uni-Marts common stock "for investment purposes" and reserves the right to make additional purchases of common stock either in the open market or in private transactions "depending upon the Partnership's evaluation of the issuer's business, prospects and financial condition, the market for the common stock, economic and stock market conditions and other future developments."

"Uni-Marts did not play a role in the recent transaction between HP Limited Partnership and Getty Petroleum Marketing, nor have we solicited or have any present plans of engaging in a fundamental transaction involving Uni-Marts," said Henry Sahakian, chairman and CEO of Uni-Marts. "We appreciate the fact that an unrelated party involved in our industry believes our common stock has favorable investment potential and we plan to continue to manage the company for the future benefit of this significant investor and for all of our stockholders."
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