UPDATE: 7-Eleven Grows With EZ Energy USA, Handee Marts Deal

DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. is expanding its portfolio with two recently closed acquisitions, one with EZ Energy USA and the other with its licensee Handee Marts Inc.

7-Eleven's deal with EZ Energy USA gives the retailer 67 convenience stores in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Its deal with Handee Marts adds 58 7-Eleven convenience stores to its portfolio in those same markets as well as locations in northern West Virginia and western Maryland.

In a phone call with CSNews Online after 7-Eleven announced the acquisition, Handee Marts President and CEO Mike Triantafellou said that the Turner family, which owns Handee Marts parent company, Turner Dairy, was approached by 7-Eleven at the end of last year.

Triantafellou has been working on the deal since then -- the deal actually closed Oct. 1.

He said the deal made a lot of sense because at 38 stores the company wasn't large enough to some of the things necessary to grow its business. Now, the former Handee Marts stores can take advantage of 7-Eleven's distribution efficiencies, especially in the area of daily delivery of fresh food to the stores. Also, since all but three of Handee Marts stores are franchised, they fit right into 7-Eleven's franchisee-based model. Handee Marts was a 7-Eleven licensee.

The Turner family has owned Handee Marts for 43 years.

The Handee Marts deal comes two months after 7-Eleven acquired Prima Marketing LLC, another 7-Eleven licensee. That deal, which closed in August, involved 74 operating convenience stores and two land parcels. The stores were located in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky with the bulk of in West Virginia, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Terms of the two new deals were not disclosed. However, reports in early September revealed 7-Eleven as the buyer of EZ Energy USA assets and put a $64-million price tag on the deal, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The EZ Energy purchase includes Easy Trip and BP convenience stores, and the wholesale fuel-supply business that supports 20 of EZ Energy's dealer-operators. EZ Energy locations offer mostly BP- and Marathon-branded gasoline.

Handee Marts has 38 stores offering gasoline under a variety of brands, including Exxon, Gulf, BP, Valero and Sunoco.

"These two acquisitions provide 7-Eleven with an excellent opportunity to have a strong presence immediately in both the Cleveland and Pittsburgh areas," said Stan Reynolds, 7-Eleven Inc.'s executive vice president and CFO. "We also are interested in looking at other locations in these markets to further expand our presence there."

7-Eleven will add its proprietary retail information system and technology for enhanced product-ordering capabilities. The retailer will also add the 7-Select private brand and other well-known proprietary products like 7-Eleven coffee, Slurpee and Big Gulp drinks, to the stores' product offerings. In addition, the company will soon offer money orders and accept food stamps.

7-Eleven plans to rebrand EZ Energy's stores starting early 2013.

 

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