TravelCenters to Purchase 31 Minit Mart Locations

WESTLAKE, Ohio -- TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) is acquiring 31 convenience stores with gas stations -- 28 in Kentucky and three in Tennessee -- for $67 million. A private company is selling the locations, which operate under the Minit Mart banner.

Twenty-seven of the stores include the ownership of land and buildings, while four are leaseholds. The typical Minit Mart includes 10 fueling positions and approximately 5,000 square feet of interior space offering convenience store merchandise and some prepared foodservice.

During 2012, these stores dispensed an aggregate of 38 million gallons of fuel.

"The 31 c-stores TA has agreed to acquire are high-volume fuel locations with larger interior space for merchandise and food offerings than typical c-stores, and appear to have limited need for near-term capital investment," said Thomas M. O'Brien, TA's president and CEO.

"In addition, we do not expect these c-stores to require a lengthy period to achieve stabilized financial results. We also expect TA may be able to realize synergies in purchasing and merchandising customer offerings at these c-stores, which may make the financial results, relative to the acquisition cost, similar to that expected for travel-center acquisitions,” he continued. “Nearly all of TA's existing travel centers currently offer gasoline for motorists and most of these c-stores' customer offerings are similar to the products and food services available at our highway travel centers."

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, but TA expects it will close before year-end. The $67-million price tag is before closing costs and customary working capital adjustments.

O'Brien's comments are based on information provided by the seller to TA prior to today and may be subject to change, the company stated.

TravelCenters of America operates and franchises travel centers under the Travel Centers of America, TA, Petro Stopping Centers and Petro brand names. The locations offer diesel and gasoline fueling, restaurants, truck repair facilities, stores and other services. TA's nationwide business spans 42 states and in Canada.