Matrix Announces the Successful Sale of Tri-State Petroleum Corporation
Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. (“Matrix”), a leading, independent investment bank, announces that it has advised Tri-State Petroleum Corporation and its affiliates (“Tri-State” or the “Company”) on the sale of the Company’s 25 company-operated petroleum marketing and convenience retail stores, eight wholesale dealer accounts, and two commercial fuels bulk plants located in the tri-state region of western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and eastern Ohio to Majors Management, LLC and its affiliates.
Tri-State was founded in 1974 by Edward J. Coyne, I and Elizabeth J. Coyne as an Atlantic Richfield distributor of tires, batteries, and automotive accessories. In 1976, the Company began barging fuel oil through its Wheeling, WV terminal and bulk plant facility that served chemical, coal, and other industrial customers throughout the upper Ohio Valley region. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Company implemented a strategic plan to expand into retail fuel marketing, by leveraging supply contracts with BP, Exxon, Citgo, and Sunoco, and acquiring two portfolios from BP in the mid-1990s, including company-operated convenience stores and wholesale dealer accounts. The Company continued its path of growth in 2002, when it acquired 18 petroleum marketing and convenience store locations from ExxonMobil Corporation.
Edward and Elizabeth’s children, Colleen McGlinn, Erin Merrick, Sheila Romanek, and Edward Coyne, II, all joined the business during the 1980s and 1990s and still continue to manage the Company in various executive roles today. In 2012, Tri-State entered into a new branded supply agreement with Marathon Petroleum Corporation, rebranding the majority of its petroleum marketing assets, and has subsequently become one of the leading Marathon distributors and convenience retailers in its trade area.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Tri-State, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was managed by Spencer Cavalier, CFA, ASA, Co-Head of Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; David Corbett, CFA, Director; Martin McElroy, CFA, Senior Associate and James Mickelinc, CPA, Analyst.
Mrs. McGlinn, Tri-State CEO, commented, “Deciding to work with Matrix was one of the best decisions we made when we decided to move forward with the sale of our business. Their expertise, experience, professionalism, and industry knowledge were invaluable to us throughout a very complex process. They provided thoughtful advice as we made some of the most difficult decisions of our life. We greatly enjoyed working with the entire team at Matrix.”
Mr. Cavalier said, “Two generations of the Coyne family have worked tirelessly for nearly 50 years to build Tri-State into one of the leading petroleum marketers in the eastern Ohio Valley. It was a pleasure working with Colleen, Erin, Sheila, and Ed throughout the process, and an honor to represent the family when they made the important decision to pursue an exit from the business.”
About Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group
Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group is recognized as the national leader in providing transactional advisory services to companies in the downstream energy and multi-site retail sectors including convenience retailing, petroleum marketing & distribution, propane distribution, heating oil distribution, lubricants distribution, petroleum logistics, terminals and car washes. Group members are dedicated to these sectors and draw upon complementary experiences to provide advisory services to complete sophisticated merger and acquisition transactions, debt and equity capital raises, corporate valuations, special situations and strategic planning engagements. Since 1997, our Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group has successfully completed over 260 engagements with a total transaction value of more than $13 billion.
About Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc.
Founded in 1988, Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. is an independent, advisory focused, privately-held investment bank headquartered in Richmond, VA, with an additional office in Baltimore, MD. Matrix provides merger & acquisition and financial advisory services for privately-held, private-equity owned, not-for-profit and publicly traded companies. Matrix’s advisory services include company sales, recapitalizations, capital raises of debt & equity, corporate carve outs, special situations, management buyouts, corporate valuations and fairness opinions. Matrix serves clients in a wide range of industries, including automotive aftermarket, building products, business services, consumer products, convenience retail, downstream energy, healthcare and industrial products. For additional information or to contact our team members, please visit http://www.matrixcmg.com.