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Dive Brief:

Pri Mar Petroleum is expected to sell its business, including 13 Pri-Mart c-stores in Michigan, by the end of the month, according to a report from MoodyOnTheMarket.com.  The convenience stores and gas stations will be sold to Blarney Castle Oil while the fuel oil and lubricant business will be sold to Michigan-based fuel company Merle Boes, Pri Mar President and CEO Kurt Marzke told the publication. This announcement comes amid a slew of M&A news, from Kent Companies and Minuteman making one-off deals to Sunoco buying Parkland Corp.’s fuel business and thousands of retail locations.

Dive Insight:

Pri Mar’s 13 stores are expected to become part of Blarney Castle’s EZ Mart chain, which includes nearly 200 stores in Michigan. Some Pri Mart locations offer Hunt’s Brothers Pizza, while EZ Mart offers a wider variety of food across its footprint, including Lucky Louie’s Pizza and Bill and Will gourmet hot dogs.

The Pri Mart stores — located in Michigan’s Berrien, Cass and VanBuren counties — will continue offering their current brands of gasoline after the acquisition, according to the report.

Marzke noted that most of the employees for both sides of the business will be retained by the acquiring companies. He did not disclose the terms of the deals.

Neither company responded to request for comment by press time.

Blarney Castle Oil is no stranger to using M&A to grow its presence in Michigan. In 2023, the company bought Alpena Oil’s 14 c-stores, six grocery stores and cardlock system.

The report about Pri Mar selling its assets came out the same day as fuel company Sunoco announced it had reached an agreement to buy Parkland for $9.1 billion.

Meanwhile, smaller deals like Kent’s acquisition of Whit’s Grocery in Midland, Texas, and Minuteman Food Mart’s purchase of a former Speedway c-store in Whiteville, North Carolina, are also continuing apace.

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