Update: Fas Mart Owner Targets Growth With $50M Recapitalization
RICHMOND, Va. -- Convenience store customers will see more Fas Mart and Shore Stop locations open their doors as parent company GPM Investments LLC closes on a $50 million recapitalization to further its growth strategies. The credit facility includes $15 million of new equity infusion.
As CSNews Online reported first in a Breaking News flash, the financing will improve cash flows and allow the company to invest in new capital improvement projects, which will enhance the overall operations of the business and offer customers a significantly improved shopping experience.
Fas Mart and Shore Stop have demonstrated tremendous growth over the last decade, stretching from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the New England states. Its plans call for continuing this growth pattern into the next decade.
Although the financing is not earmarked for any specific projects, GPM Investments President and COO Mark Roberts told CSNews Online that the funds will go toward new, as well as existing stores.
"We are looking to grow our group of stores through acquisitions and we are also looking to spend some money in our existing stores to improve the entire customer experience," he said.
Currently, GPM Investments operates 212 c-stores under the Fas Mart and Shore Stop banners in nine states, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Rhode Island and North Carolina. According to Roberts, the company is eyeing numerous areas for both acquisitions of existing convenience stores and ground-up development.
"We are looking at all aspects of the convenience store industry," he said.
There is no end goal as far as the number of stores it hopes to reach or the timeframe for the expansion, Roberts added. "We are just trying to maximize value for our shareholders."
All total, the entire financial deal has the effect of increasing shareholders' equity by approximately $25 million, according to a company news release.