Harbor Petroleum Scales Down, Sells Dealer Business

NAUGATUCK, Conn. — Harbor Petroleum of New England Inc. closed the sale of its contract dealer business to SEI Fuel Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of 7-Eleven Inc.

Harbor Petroleum owns and operates convenience stores and supplies fuels throughout Connecticut. Under the leadership of John Baker, the company began operating in 1981 with one gas station in Naugatuck.

Baker will continue to own and supply a small group of gas stations, in which he primarily retains a fee or leasehold interest.

Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. provided merger and acquisition advisory services, including valuation advisory, marketing of the assets and negotiation of the transaction.

"I firmly believe that our company obtained not only the broadest regional coverage exposure possible, but a representative national exposure to qualified buyers as well," Baker said. 

The transaction was co-managed by Matrix's Thomas Kelso, managing director and head of the downstream energy and retail team, and John Underwood, director. Vance Saunders, director and Andrew LoPresti, associate, also advised on the transaction. Craig Sylvester and Christine Miller of Reid and Riege, P.C., served as legal counsel for Harbor Petroleum.

"Matrix is very happy to have helped John achieve his goal of selling the contract dealer business of Harbor Petroleum. We appreciated the opportunity to work with him to achieve his goals," Underwood said.

As CSNews Online previously reported, SEI Fuels entered the wholesale fuel business during the fourth quarter of 2012 when 7-Eleven and SEI Fuels acquired the assets of TETCO Inc. and its affiliates, which ran a Texas-based fuel distribution and convenience retailing business. This past November, SEI Fuels purchased 101 Florida gasoline station locations from Biscayne Petroleum LLC and Everglades Petroleum LLC. 

Matrix also provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Biscayne Petroleum and Everglades Petroleum in the November deal.