RICHMOND, Va.—GPM Investments LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARKO Corp., today announced the closing of the acquisition of the ExpressStop chain, including 60 convenience stores with gas in Michigan and Ohio.
This deal adds to GPM’s existing stores in Michigan and Ohio and lifts the total chainwide store count to about 3,000 locations of which about 1,400 are company-operated and about 1,625 are dealer sites supplied by GPM. Brighton, Michigan-based ExpressStop was founded in 1957 in Saginaw, Michigan.
“We are excited to complete this transaction and welcome ExpressStop to the GPM family of community brands,” said Arie Kotler, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ARKO. “As our 19th acquisition since 2013, ExpressStop is the latest example of our continued commitment to aggressive growth through the acquisition of strong regional community brands. We look forward to providing ExpressStop customers with the same great products and service they have come to expect with additional value through our fas REWARDS loyalty program and promotional activities throughout the year.”
In reporting fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results in March, ARKO CEO Kotler said, “Our industry is highly fragmented and ripe for consolidation, and we are proud that we have built a large platform with our strong track record of acquisitions.”
Earlier this month, GPM announced a deal with Chicago-based real-estate investment firm Oak Street Real Estate Capital LLC that calls for Oak Street to purchase and lease to GPM real estate associated with convenience stores and gas stations GPM acquires. The plan is for GPM to own and operate the related acquired businesses, while Oak Street owns the real estate and leases it to GPM. Oak Street is committing as much as $1 billion to the program for a one-year period.
For more on GPM and its growth strategies, including a multiyear remodeling program, read “Tying It All Together” in the March issue of NACS Magazine.
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