Plaid Pantry Completes Refinancing
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Plaid Pantries Inc. yesterday put itself in a strong position to grow the company and increase services after completing a $10.5-million refinancing.
"This refinance accomplished a number of objectives for the company, including now being associated with two great partners in Guaranty and Transamerica who want to work with us and help us grow over the long haul," said Chris Girard, chief executive of Plaid Pantries. "It also freed up collateral that can be used to fund additional growth and provide flexibility for acquisitions."
Plaid Pantries operates 104 convenience stores in Oregon and Washington doing approximately $120 million per year in revenue and serving more than 80,000 customers per day. All of the stores are company operated, with 88 located in the metropolitan Portland area, eight in Seattle and eight in Salem, Ore. Of the 104 stores, 17 stores offer gasoline under the Texaco, Shell or the company's own Plaid Plus brand. Eleven stores offer fast food, under brands such as Subway, Taco Bell and Baskin-Robbins.
The debt package consists of a $6-million inventory and ATM cash revolving line of credit facility provided by Guaranty Business Credit Corp., a $3.5-million term loan provided by Transamerica Equipment Financial Services Corp. and a $1-million term loan from an affiliate of one of the company's directors.
In addition to giving the company some lateral movement to grow, "it also eliminated a balloon payment that was due in 2003, increased monthly cash flow through lower principal and interest payments, increased our line of credit availability and increased the per-share value of the company significantly through the retirement of warrants that were held by the former lender," said Tom Horey, chief financial officer for Plaid Pantries.
Over the past year, Plaid Pantries has been busy rolling out its Plaid Plus fuel brand. The company converted all six of its ARCO convenience stores over to Plaid Plus brand in quick succession, at an average cost of $30,000 each.
"The ARCOs we converted were totally centered on price. We wanted to be competitive, but we also wanted to go beyond price and convey a sharp, crisp image, backed up by state-of-the-art equipment that made a strong statement that we're really in the gas business," Girard told CSNews Online earlier this year.
ABOVE: Chris Girard, chief executive of Plaid Pantries, shows off the company's Plaid Plus fuel brand.
"This refinance accomplished a number of objectives for the company, including now being associated with two great partners in Guaranty and Transamerica who want to work with us and help us grow over the long haul," said Chris Girard, chief executive of Plaid Pantries. "It also freed up collateral that can be used to fund additional growth and provide flexibility for acquisitions."
Plaid Pantries operates 104 convenience stores in Oregon and Washington doing approximately $120 million per year in revenue and serving more than 80,000 customers per day. All of the stores are company operated, with 88 located in the metropolitan Portland area, eight in Seattle and eight in Salem, Ore. Of the 104 stores, 17 stores offer gasoline under the Texaco, Shell or the company's own Plaid Plus brand. Eleven stores offer fast food, under brands such as Subway, Taco Bell and Baskin-Robbins.
The debt package consists of a $6-million inventory and ATM cash revolving line of credit facility provided by Guaranty Business Credit Corp., a $3.5-million term loan provided by Transamerica Equipment Financial Services Corp. and a $1-million term loan from an affiliate of one of the company's directors.
In addition to giving the company some lateral movement to grow, "it also eliminated a balloon payment that was due in 2003, increased monthly cash flow through lower principal and interest payments, increased our line of credit availability and increased the per-share value of the company significantly through the retirement of warrants that were held by the former lender," said Tom Horey, chief financial officer for Plaid Pantries.
Over the past year, Plaid Pantries has been busy rolling out its Plaid Plus fuel brand. The company converted all six of its ARCO convenience stores over to Plaid Plus brand in quick succession, at an average cost of $30,000 each.
"The ARCOs we converted were totally centered on price. We wanted to be competitive, but we also wanted to go beyond price and convey a sharp, crisp image, backed up by state-of-the-art equipment that made a strong statement that we're really in the gas business," Girard told CSNews Online earlier this year.
ABOVE: Chris Girard, chief executive of Plaid Pantries, shows off the company's Plaid Plus fuel brand.