Dive Brief:
- Jacksons Food Stores has acquired Hi-Noon Petroleum, a Montana-based fuel marketer and convenience retailer, for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced on Thursday.
- The deal includes three convenience stores in the state under the Noon’s banner operated by Hi-Noon, as well as the company’s 46 dealer accounts and fleet of transportation assets. Jacksons does not currently have stores in Montana, according to its website.
- Jacksons joins a number of major convenience stores using M&A to grow their retail operations into new states, joining the likes of Casey’s General Stores, FEMSA and U-Stop.
Dive Insight:
This deal continues the trend of smaller retailers exiting the convenience store business — and larger ones making deals with those departing owners to grow their own footprints and gain scale.
Jacksons’ latest deal grows its network of 300-plus convenience stores to eight states. Besides Montana, the company operates c-stores in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, California and Utah, according to the its website.
The vertically integrated company also currently supplies fuel through its Jacksons Energy arm.
Dirk Cooper, president and CEO of Hi-Noon, thanked Corner Capital Advisors, which provided several services during the acquisition talks, adding, “Combined with the incredibly strong team we worked with at Jacksons Energy, I will be forever grateful to have worked with the ideal partners to carry forward the legacy of our company.”
Jacksons is in good company in entering new states through buying up smaller retailers. Casey’s added three new states — Florida, Alabama and Mississippi — when it bought Fikes Wholesale and its nearly 200 CEFCO Convenience Stores for $1.1 billion earlier this year. FEMSA agreed to buy Delek’s 249 locations in Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico in August for $385 million.
But it wasn’t just massive retailers taking this track. In March, U-Stop Convenience Stores acquired the 11-location Shop Quik Convenience Stores chain in Kansas.
