Pride Stores CEO Bob Bolduc announced that he has sold the c-store chain to Arclight Capital Partners.

Bolduc told Western Mass News that it was time to sell the company, and that no one in his family has an interest in taking it over. However, Bolduc will continue to serve the brand as a member of its board of directors.

The Pride name will not be changed, and all employees will remain in place. Arclight Capital Partners will manage the stores from a distance.

“I think that’s quite a compliment to our staff, to my team here, that this company has entrusted them to take over,” Bolduc told Western Mass. “The public, I hope, will not see a difference in terms of service and in terms of all the benefits Pride has.”

The sale reportedly included 31 c-stores, plus additional properties the private equity firm hopes to develop in the future.

“We had seven actual very serious big bidders who wanted to buy it,” Bolduc said. “They were all either national chains or very large regional chains that were strongly interested, and it wasn’t that difficult to pick, because this company wanted to keep everybody in place and not everybody wanted to do that, and most of all, I want to take care of my employees.”

Pride is headquartered in Springfield, Mass. and operates in Massachusetts and Connecticut.