Matrix Capital Markets Group, an independent investment bank, provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Quarles Petroleum on the closing of the sale of its fleet fueling and dealer supply businesses to GPM Investments, a subsidiary of ARKO. The assets sold to GPM included more than 120 Quarles branded cardlocks, more than 60 private cardlock sites, the company’s fleet card assets, and nearly 50 consignment and wholesale dealer accounts.
Quarles was founded in 1940 by Douglas Quarles Sr. and his son, Douglas Quarles Jr. by purchasing The Home Oil Company in Warrenton, VA. Over the next 40 years, the company expanded into new regions in Virginia and acquired a storage terminal in Spotsylvania County, VA, providing a connection to the Plantation Pipeline. In the 1980’s, Quarles began opening cardlock fueling locations and convenience stores, and the company also entered the propane business. In the two decades that followed, the company opened a total of 31 Q-Stop convenience stores before selling them to 7-Eleven in 2010 to focus on the delivered fuels and fleet fueling businesses. Under the leadership of the current management team, Quarles has grown significantly over the last 10 years 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 Company, Northern Neck Oil Company, Northern Neck Gas, Revere Gas Company, Dixie Gas & Oil and the propane assets of PAPCO.
On June 1, Quarles sold its propane, heating oil and commercial fuels distribution business to Superior Plus. At the time of the sale, Quarles was one of the largest propane and refined fuels distribution companies in the U.S. and served 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 and one of the largest fleet fueling networks in the country. The closing of this transaction with GPM represents Quarles’ final exit from the petroleum marketing industry.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Quarles, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was managed by Vance Saunders, CPA, managing director; Spencer Cavalier, CFA, co-head of Matrix’s downstream energy and convenience retail investment banking group; John Duni, CFA, CPA, vice president; and Michael Tucker, CFA, associate.
“The Matrix team was instrumental in leading the Quarles organization through the process of marketing the business, finding the best value for each line of business as well as guiding us through the complexity of a multiple buyer sale process,“ Paul Giambra, CEO of Quarles, said.
“This has been a very complex, bifurcated sale process, which was structured to maximize value and deal terms for the shareholders,” Saunders said. “We appreciate the opportunity to advise such a great company on their final exit from the industry.”
Larry Parker, Trevor Wind, Mary Katherine McGetrick, David Allen and Jonathan Bliley of Williams Mullen served as legal counsel for Quarles.
