Best Oil Completes Two-Part Company Selloff

CLOQUET, Minn. — Best Oil Co. has put the final piece of its selloff in place. The locally based company closed the sale of its wholesale fuel supply business and transportation division to NuWay Cooperative.

Best Oil's wholesale fuel supply business consists of annual sales of more than 27 million gallons serving approximately 110 customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The transportation division has eight tractors and eight trailers that deliver fuel. 

The deal with NuWay, a Minnesota cooperative based in Trimont, comes less than two weeks after Best Oil sold its Little Stores convenience store chain to TravelCenters of America LLC, as CSNews Online previously reported. The chain comprises 19 c-stores, 18 that were owned fee simple and one that was a leasehold. All the stores are located in northern Minnesota and Superior, Wis.

Richmond, Va.-based Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Best Oil. The transaction was co-managed by Thomas Kelso, managing director and head of the Downstream Energy & Retail team, and John Underwood, director. Stephen Lynch, associate, also advised on the transaction.

The McKinney-Lindholm families planted the seeds of the business 75 years ago. Best Oil was founded in 1939, with the Little Store operation starting up in 1971. The McKinney family has continued to run the business, but without a next generation to take the reins and with a market ripe for merger and acquisition activity, the company decided to sell.
 
"Matrix has helped Best Oil management review its strategic options since 2008. When the decision was made to sell, we chose Matrix for their extensive industry expertise and professionalism. The Matrix team did a great job of leading the sales process and maximizing the value of the Little Store division, the wholesale supply operations and the transportation division," said John McKinney, president of Best Oil. "They helped guide Best Oil management through the sale process, worked with Best Oil's legal counsel to negotiate the transaction and helped manage the due diligence and closing process. We greatly appreciate the job the Matrix team did."
 
William M. Burns of Hanft Fride served as legal counsel for Best Oil. McGladrey LLP provided tax, accounting and structuring advice.