Matrix Advises on the Sale of Pri Mar’s Petroleum Marketing and Convenience Retail Business to Blarney Castle and its Delivered Fuels and Lubricants Business to Merle Boes
Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. announces that it has advised Pri Mar Petroleum, Inc. on the sale of its petroleum marketing and convenience retail business to Blarney Castle Oil Co. and its delivered fuels and lubricants business to Merle Boes, Inc. Headquartered in St. Joseph, Michigan, Pri Mar operates 13 Pri Mart branded convenience stores and supplies 12 wholesale dealers throughout southwestern Michigan, selling fuels under the BP, Amoco, and Citgo brands. The company also delivers commercial fuels, heating oil, and lubricants to over 2,000 customers from its three bulk plant facilities.
Pri Mar is a third-generation, family-owned and operated business that was founded by Harry Priebe and his brother in 1928 as a distributor of petroleum products to farm, industrial, and home heating customers. In 1972, Harry Priebe’s son-in-law, L. Richard Marzke, took over the company and merged the two surnames together to create Pri Mar Petroleum. Pri Mar’s first convenience store opened in Stevensville, Michigan in 1976. It was one of the first convenience stores in the area, and the success of this store led to the conversion of other gasoline service stations into convenience stores. L. Richard Marzke’s son, Kurt Marzke, joined Pri Mar as the General Manager in 1984 and was soon followed by his brother Craig in 1989, his brother Chris in 1997, and his brother Kevin in 2006. Today, Pri Mar has grown to service all of southwestern Michigan through its retail stores and fuels distribution network and employs approximately 120 team members. The company remains family-owned under the leadership of Kurt Marzke, Chief Executive Officer; Craig Marzke, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer; and Kevin Marzke, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to the company, which included valuation advisory, marketing the businesses through confidential, structured sale processes, and negotiation of the transactions. The transactions were managed by Vance Saunders, CPA, Managing Director; and Kyle Tipping, CFA, Vice President.
Kurt Marzke, CEO of Pri Mar, commented, “On behalf of our employees with Pri Mar Petroleum and the Marzke Family, we are very pleased with the Matrix team and how they handled everything for us on the sale of our business. We would highly recommend their services to anyone pursuing merger and acquisition options. They were very professional and a pleasure to work with.”
Mr. Saunders added, “We’re honored to have advised the Marzkes on these transactions, culminating three generations of their family’s hard work building a truly outstanding company. We really enjoyed working with the Marzke brothers and wish them well in their next chapter.”
Otto Konrad and Kaitlin Cottle of Williams Mullen served as legal counsel for Pri Mar on both transactions.
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, our 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.
Our industry focused, dedicated sector advisory groups serve clients in the automotive aftermarket, downstream energy & convenience retail, healthcare and outdoor recreation & marine markets. Our 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 or to contact our team members, please visit www.matrixcmg.com.