Majors Management Completes Acquisition of Maritime Farms C-stores

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Majors Management LLC has completed its acquisition of Maritime Farms convenience stores, the retail arm of Rockland, Maine-based Maritime Energy. The deal includes 13 c-stores with full delis located in midcoast Maine and marks Majors' entrance into the state.

Petroleum Equity Group provided confidential advisory services to Maritime. The Chappaqua, N.Y.-based full-service advisory company continues to support the downstream fuels and c-store industry,

"With the acquisition of the Maritime sites, Majors now operates across the East Coast of the United States from Florida to Maine," said Majors' President Ben Smith. "We are honored to carry on Maritime's legacy of excellent service to their retail fueling and convenience customers, and to further enhance Majors' reputation of closing transactions quickly, efficiently and without disruption. We are pleased with the first-class support and expertise we received from the Maritime management team and their advisory firm, Petroleum Equity Group, as led by Ken Shriber, managing director."

The 13-store portfolio of fee-owned, company-operated sites includes two Shell-branded locations, one Sunoco-branded location and 10 that fly the Maritime Farms flag. The stores average more than 3,000 square feet and offer beer and wine in addition to the delis and other convenience goods. Nine of the stores also sell liquor, two have Dunkin' concepts and one has a car wash.

Maritime Energy was founded by Roland Ware in 1939 and originally operated with one Sunoco-branded gas station and a heating oil business with one delivery truck. Following World War II, the company added gas stations and grew into a regional motor fuel and heating oil distributor. Roland's son John took over as president in 1978 and ventured into the convenience store business in 1985. Maritime Energy later added kerosene, propane and heating system installations and services to its core energy business operations.

Susan Ware Page, third-generation leadership and current Maritime president, joined the family business in 2001, after which she oversaw significant company growth.

"I feel that we have found the best match to continue to put our people first, care for the properties and set the stage to lead the business into the future. We will continue to be delivering motor fuels, fuel oils and propane to the stores, so customers can expect the same high quality fuel products," Ware Page said. "Due to the experienced guidance that we received, and the friendly professional approach shown by the Majors' team, I have utmost confidence they will be a great fit for the employees and the local community."

She added that "The decision to sell is a difficult one, and we could not have achieved our objective without Ken's ability to source the right buyer who agreed to our deal requirements."

Under the terms of the sale agreement, Maritime Energy will continue to dispatch, transport and deliver motor fuels to Majors' retail locations. Additionally, no current Maritime Farms employees will lose their jobs, as Convenience Store News  previously reported.

The acquisition of Maritime Farms c-stores is one of several recent deals made by Lawrenceville, Ga.-based Majors Management. In November, the company acquired six c-stores from Fairhope, Ala.-based Bay Shores Oil Inc.; closed on a portfolio of assets from Nacogdoches, Texas-based Morgan Oil Co Inc.; and finalized is acquisition of K&H Truck Plaza, located off I-57, in Gilman, Ill.

Majors Management is an owner, developer and operator of convenience stores and a distributor of high-quality branded motor fuels. The company and its affiliates supply fuel to more than 1,200 convenience store locations. Majors Management partners with leading petroleum brands such as BP, Shell, Chevron, Exxon, Marathon, CITGO, Mobil, Texaco, Valero, Phillips, Sunoco, 76 and Alon.