Last updated on April 26th, 2016 at 09:45 am
Pine State Trading Co., a family-owned company comprised of five operating divisions, has entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of its convenience store division to Core-Mark Holding Co., one of North America’s largest and most successful marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry. The transaction is structured as an all-cash asset acquisition, and the purchase price is estimated to be approximately $112 million, predicated on the value of certain assets to be determined at closing.
Pine State Convenience has long been a leader in the industry and is known as a “supplier of choice” in the Northeast, according to Core-Mark. The division, with sales of nearly $1 billion, employs more than 500 people. Pine State Managing Partner Keith Canning will be president of the new entity, Pine State Convenience, a Division of Core-Mark. All employees currently in the convenience store division will be retained by Core-Mark, which will continue to operate out of Pine State Trading Co.’s state-of-the-art facility located at Market Street Business Park in Gardiner, Maine.
It will be business as usual at the other Pine State Trading Co. divisions—Pine State Beverage, Pine State Spirits, Pine State Vending and Town & Country Foods. These divisions will continue under the same family ownership and management as they do today.
“Core-Mark was the obvious choice to continue our legacy of helping our convenience store customers build their respective businesses,” said Nick Alberding, CEO of Pine State Trading Co. “Pine State and Core-Mark are both committed to exceeding customer expectations while offering exceptional service and complete retail solutions. In addition, Core-Mark values the relationships we have built over the years and, most importantly, respects our culture as well as our experienced and talented employees.”
Added Canning, “I am honored to lead this team of dedicated employees who share my passion of delivering innovative solutions and exceptional service to our customers and suppliers. Core-Mark’s investment in Maine will bring advanced technology and proven marketing programs that will provide new opportunities to help our customers continue to grow.”
Tom Perkins, president and CEO of South San Francisco, California-based Core-Mark, said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome the customers and employees of Pine State Convenience to the Core-Mark family. Both of our companies have experienced great success over the past decade largely due to our reputations in the marketplace with customers, employees and suppliers. This deal affords us the opportunity to widen our geographic footprint in an area where we have a limited presence and offer Pine State Convenience customers a new spectrum of products and marketing programs that have brought our own retailers success.
“Under the continued leadership of Keith Canning, who has accepted the role as division president, we expect great results as we merge our shared cultures, values and focus on the customer.”
The Pine State Trading Co. corporate headquarters and leadership team, including owners Alberding and Gena Canning, managing partner, will relocate to newly leased office space in Libby Hill Business Park in Gardiner.
“While this is a strategic business decision for our family, it is also an emotional one,” said Gena Canning. “For 30 years, Nick, Keith and I have worked shoulder to shoulder with an incredible group of people. It was critical to us that Core-Mark wanted to retain all the employees dedicated to this division and that they shared our commitment to the well-being of our employees and their families.”
