United Pacific acquires 10 Cruisers c-stores in California

Dive Brief:

Convenience and fuel retailer Apro LLC, doing business as United Pacific, has acquired 10 Cruisers-branded c-stores from fellow West Coast operator Boyett Petroleum for an undisclosed amount, according to a Thursday announcement.
United Pacific will lease nine of the 10 company-operated stores included in the acquisition. All of the stores are located in California and sell 76-branded fuel.
In a separate deal, Boyett has acquired United Pacific’s wholesale segment — which includes about 200 fuel supply accounts — according to the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Offloading the 10 Cruisers c-stores and acquiring the new fuel assets is a means for Boyett to focus more on its wholesale fuels distribution business, where it works with agricultural and commercial users of gasoline, diesel, and red dye diesel fuel that have on-site storage, according to its website.

Boyett’s acquisition of United Pacific’s fuel assets includes Shell, Marathon, Phillips 66 and Valero branded fuel accounts, as well as unbranded dealer accounts across California, Oregon, and Washington. Additionally, Boyett has acquired United Pacific’s distribution rights for the Shell brand.

The announcement did not clarify whether the Cruisers stores will be rebranded moving forward, but noted that United Pacific has welcomed Boyett’s employees “with open arms.”

“It was important to us to find a company that valued our team as much as we did, and United Pacific did just that,” Scott Castle, president of Boyett Petroleum, said in the announcement.

Modesto, California-based Boyett Petroleum operates more than 70 c-stores under the Cruisers and Kwik Serv brands. The retailer also supplies gasoline and diesel fuel to truck stops and more than 500 service stations.

Long Beach, California-based United Pacific operates about 330 c-stores, mostly in the Western U.S., according to NACS’ Top 100 ranking. Its retail and wholesale businesses span across California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Colorado. The company is a portfolio business of investment management firm Fortress Investment Group LLC.