TravelCenters Completes Stop-A-Sec Acquisition

WESTLAKE, Ohio — TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) continues adding to its convenience store footprint, closing on the acquisition of an eighth store from the Stop-a-Sec brand.

TravelCenters took ownership of the other seven Stop-a-Sec convenience stores earlier this month. The retailer has already begun to operate those sites, which will all be rebranded as Minit Mart c-stores, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The eight western Wisconsin stores were owned by Stop-a-Sec Inc. and Seck Enterprises Inc. of Luck, Wis. All eight of the sites were owned in fee. The c-stores serve the communities of Balsam Lake, Cushing, Grantsburg, Luck, Osceola, Minong, Webster and Woodville, Wis.

The eight stores have operated as Holiday franchised stores and provided high-quality fuel and a full range of convenience store items to the communities they serve, according to Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. 

Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Stop-a-Sec and Seck Enterprises, which included valuation advisory, marketing of the company through a customized, confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was co-managed by Spencer Cavalier, managing director, and John Underwood, director. Andrew LoPresti, associate, also advised on the transaction.

"Matrix did a great job in leading the sales process, maximizing value for our stores and working with our legal counsel to negotiate the transaction. We are pleased that TA will be retaining our existing employees," said Ed Seck, president of Stop-a-Sec and Seck Enterprises. 

"Along with our daughters, Shannon and Jennifer, we have operated our stores as a family business for 26 years and will truly miss the convenience store industry. It was not an easy decision to sell. However, we are confident that our employees and customers are in good hands and look forward to seeing positive changes for them all," Seck added.

Mark Johnson, Tami Diehm and Noreen Sedgeman of Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. served as legal counsel for Stop-a-Sec and Seck Enterprises.

Westlake-based TravelCenters has 252 locations in 43 states and Canada operating under the TA and Petro Stopping Center brands. The company also operates convenience stores and gas stations primarily under the Minit Mart brand.