Matrix Advises on the Sale of Cary Oil Company’s Breeze Thru Markets to Sampson-Bladen Oil Co., Inc.
Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. announces that it has advised Cary Oil Co., Inc. and its affiliates on the sale of its Breeze Thru Markets convenience retail business to Sampson-Bladen Oil Co., Inc. Following the divestment of its chain of 15 Breeze Thru branded convenience stores, Cary will continue to operate its extensive wholesale fuels distribution business that supplies approximately 1,000 dealers across 20+ states and delivers almost 1 billion gallons of fuel annually.
Cary Oil Company was founded in 1959 by Harry Stephenson, operating a single tankwagon delivering home heating oil throughout the town of Cary, North Carolina. Over the next several decades, Cary began offering a full slate of branded motor fuels and further expanded its geographic reach across the southeastern United States. As its wholesale distribution network continued to extend into the southwest and parts of the midwestern U.S., Cary also began operating convenience stores in its home state of North Carolina, branding these locations with its proprietary Breeze Thru Markets imaging. The Breeze Thru network consisted of 15 stores, selling BP, 76, and Amoco branded fuels and served many local communities throughout North Carolina.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Cary, which included valuation advisory, marketing the businesses through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was managed by John Duni, CFA, CPA, Director; Spencer Cavalier, CFA, ASA, Co-Head of Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; and Michael Tucker, CFA, Senior Associate.
Craig Stephenson, CEO of Cary’s holding company, COC Properties, Inc., commented, “The Matrix team demonstrated exceptional professionalism and expertise throughout our business unit divestiture process. Their thorough market analysis and deep understanding of buyer expectations helped us position our business effectively, resulting in strong interest from qualified buyers. The team’s commitment to process excellence, clear communication, and expert management of all transaction aspects made them invaluable partners in achieving our strategic objectives.”
Messrs. Cavalier and Duni added, “We are grateful for our long-term relationship with Cary Oil and the Stephenson family, and we are honored to have worked with their talented management team to consummate this important transaction.”
“The Stephenson Family has built a very well-known and successful family business, and we are honored that they now trust our family to carry on this one small part of their legacy. We have engaged with Matrix in several acquisitions, and their knowledge of our industry really streamlines the process,” commented Sampson-Bladen Oil Co. President, John Litton Clark.
Sampson-Bladen Oil Company, Inc. was founded in 1936 and now, as a fourth-generation, family-owned enterprise, has expanded into convenience store operations, quick serve restaurants, car washes, a wholesale fuel division, and a lubricants division. With the purchase of the Breeze Thru stores, Sampson-Bladen Oil Company’s store count has increased to 125 stores covering North Carolina from Duck to Blowing Rock.
Chad McCullen, Stephen Brown, and Lisa Leeaphorn of Young Moore and Henderson, P.A. served as legal counsel for Cary.
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, car washes and quick service restaurants. 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, the firm’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group has successfully completed over 300 engagements.
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.
The firm’s industry focused, dedicated sector advisory groups serve clients in the automotive aftermarket, downstream energy & convenience retail, healthcare, and outdoor recreation & marine markets. Its broad sector advisory groups serve clients in a wide range of industries, including business services, consumer, diversified industrials, restaurants, and transportation & logistics. For additional information, visit www.matrixcmg.com.