Lehigh Gas Files for IPO to Raise Up to $120M

NEW YORK -- Lehigh Gas Partners LP has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise up to $120 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The company plans to use proceeds from the IPO in order to reduce borrowings under its new credit facility. It also plans to reimburse partners Topper Group and Lehigh Gas Corp., which contributed assets to the limited partnership.

The gas station operator, which focuses on locations in high-traffic metropolitan areas across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Maine, marked a $9.6 million profit in 2011, a sharp increase from the $3 million loss it saw in 2010. Total revenue, primarily from fuel sales, rose 36 percent to $1.63 billion, according to the report.

Lehigh also generates revenue from real estate leases and recently entered a master lease agreement for 120 sites with Getty Realty Corp., as CSNews Online previously reported.

The company plans to apply for its common units to trade under the New York Stock Exchange symbol LGP.