Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Circle K Acquires 4 C-Stores in Northern Illinois
Third-generation, family-owned business exits convenience-store industry
Source: CSP Daily News
By Greg Lindenberg , EditorLAVAL, Quebec — Circle K Stores Inc., a subsidiary of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., has closed on the sale of substantially all of the assets of Carls Oil Co. Inc., Hinckley, Ill.
Carls Oil owns and operates four convenience stores and gas stations and supplies fuel to one additional location. All of the stores and the supply-only location are located in northern Illinois on the western outskirts of the Chicago metropolitan area.
The company, a third-generation, family-owned business, was founded in 1947 as a bulk fuel service for farm and fuel oil customers with the Cities Service fuel brand, which later became CITGO.
“My family worked tirelessly to create a group of world-class convenience stores which would be the pride of the communities in which they are located, and we believe that we have accomplished that,” said Randy Carls, president of Carls Oil. “Consequently, we are extremely pleased that the high standards we have established will be carried on by our buyer, Circle K. Our stores could not have wound up in better hands.
“We are extremely grateful to the professional team at NRC Realty & Capital Advisors for their representation of us in the sale process," he continued. "They helped us navigate all aspects of the transaction and provided critical assistance and innovative solutions in helping us get to the finish line in a very short period of time.”
NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC managed the transaction on behalf of Carls Oil.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard is No. 2 in CSP’s 2018 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets. Its network includes approximately 8,350 c-stores in the United States under the Circle K, Holiday and other brands. Through CrossAmerica Partners LP, Allentown, Pa., it supplies fuel to about 1,300 U.S. locations. It has a total worldwide network of about 16,000 stores.
To see a list of convenience stores for sale and gas stations for sale, click here.