Atlas Oil Co., a Taylor, Mich.-based fuel marketer, has acquired five convenience stores in Battle Creek, Mich., from R & J Inc. and has folded that company into its own retail segment.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction essentially buys out the ownership stake of R & J partners Richard Folk and John Reed, and all remaining employees at the five stations in western Michigan’s Calhoun County become Atlas employees effective immediately, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
"We previously had three stations on the western side of Michigan, and this expands our presence in a market where we have already wanted to grow," said Michael Evans, executive vice president for business development at Atlas. "We had one of our stations that was fairly close to theirs. The others are elsewhere in the state and not in competition."
All five Citgo stations, which earned a combined $20 million in revenue last year, will re-brand to BP stations within 30 days as a part of the transaction. The company also recently rebranded two other convenience gas centers in Dexter and Chelsea to BP, as part of a new branding agreement announced last month with BP America.
Atlas currently owns 40 gas stations and is the chief gasoline supplier to over 300 retail outlets in 10 states, as well as being a regional ground fuels supplier to FedEx Corp. and several trucking companies. The company is also the franchisor of Fast Track, its own retail brand of gas stations in the Midwest.
