ETP Adds More Roar in C-store Industry

DALLAS -- One week after announcing its planned acquisition of Texas-based Susser Holdings Corp., Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) closed another deal and added 40 Tigermarket convenience stores in Tennessee and Georgia to its burgeoning retail portfolio across the United States.

The transaction between ETP's Sunoco Inc. and Tiger Management Group closed on Tuesday. No financial details were released.

The Tigermarket stores are located primarily in the Nashville area, according to Jeff Shields, communications manager at Sunoco. He declined to comment on any possible rebranding efforts at these locations.

"We are pleased with the deal because these are high-quality convenience stores in an attractive, growing market," Shields told CSNews Online.

Tigermarket joins ETP on the heels of the company's recently announced acquisition of Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser Holdings, which is expected to close in the third quarter. The $1.8-billion merger will give Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners a footprint west of the Mississippi. ETP's 5,000-plus Sunoco outlets are primarily located along the East Coast, while Susser Holdings' 600-plus Stripes and Sac-N-Pac convenience stores are in Texas and surrounding states.

ETP entered the convenience retail scene when it acquired Sunoco in October 2012 for $5.3 billion. A year later, it expanded its holdings when private equity firm Catterton Partners sold Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS) to a division of Sunoco for an undisclosed sum in October 2013. Richmond, Va.-based MACS operates convenience stores and gas stations in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In addition to 71 company-owned stores, MACS has 230 dealer-operated sites.