Quarles Petroleum Sells Propane & Refined Fuels Distribution Business
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Quarles Petroleum Inc. sold its propane and refined products distribution business to Superior Plus Energy Services Inc., a subsidiary of Superior Plus Corp.
Assets included in the transaction comprise Quarles' delivered fuels business, which supplies propane and refined fuels to residential and commercial customers in Virginia and West Virginia from its network of bulk plants and customer service centers.
The company was founded in 1940 by Douglas Quarles Sr. and his son Douglas Quarles Jr. when they purchase The Home Oil Co. in Warrenton. Over the next four decades, Quarles Petroleum expanded into new regions in Virginia and acquired a storage terminal in Spotsylvania County, which provided a connection to the Plantation Pipeline.
Quarles Petroleum entered the propane business and began opening cardlock fueling locations and convenience stores in the 1980s. Over the next 20 years, it opened a total of 31 Q-Stop convenience stores before selling them to 7-Eleven Inc. in 2010 to focus on its delivered fuels and fleet fueling businesses.
Over the past 10 years, and under the leadership of its current management, Quarles has grown through the continued development of its cardlock network and fleet fueling program, as well as several acquisitions of propane and refined products distribution companies, including Whiting Oil Co., Northern Neck Oil Co., Northern Neck Gas, Revere Gas Co., the propane assets of PAPCO Inc., and Dixie Gas & Oil.
Quarles Petroleum is currently one of the largest propane and refined fuels distribution companies in the United States. Based in Fredericksburg, it serves more than 80,000 residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina through a network of more than 30 bulk plants, 120-plus Quarles-branded cardlocks and more than 60 private cardlock sites.
The deal with Superior did not include Quarles Petroleum's fleet fueling and cardlock assets, the wholesale dealer business or the lubricants business. Richmond-based GPM Investments LLC, a subsidiary of ARKO Corp., announced in February that it would acquire Quarles Petroleum's fueling cardlock and fuel distribution business, as Convenience Store News reported.
Matrix Capital Market Group provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Quarles. These included valuation advisory; marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process; and negotiation of the transaction.
"The Matrix team was instrumental in identifying Superior as a good match to acquire our delivered fuels business. They guided us through the entire process from marketing our business to buyers to managing through the closing process," said Paul Giambra, CEO of Quarles Petroleum. "We're pleased to transition our delivered fuels business to a company that shares our values of providing a high level of customer service and values the contributions of our associates to the success of our business."
The transaction was managed by Vance Saunders, managing director; Spencer Cavalier, co-head of Matrix's Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; John Duni, vice president; and Michael Tucker, associate.
"We've had a long relationship with Quarles for many years and have watched them build an exceptional business," Saunders added. "We're honored to have had the opportunity to advise the company and its shareholders on this transaction, and we're especially grateful for the tireless efforts of the management team to execute on a complex carveout of these assets."