The sale of Honey Farms Inc. to Global Partners LP was completed Oct. 18, announced Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc., an independent middle-market investment bank.
The acquisition includes 11 company-operated retail sites with fuel and convenience stores and 22 stand-alone c-stores. All of the sites are located in the greater Worcester, Massachusetts, area. The purchase price was approximately $36 million.
“This transaction aligns with our objective of acquiring sites that expand our footprint and enable us to benefit from economies of scale in the purchase of fuel and convenience store merchandise,” said Global Partners President and CEO Eric Slifka.
Headquartered in Worcester, Honey Farms has been owned by the Iandoli family since 1969. But the roots of the Honey Farms brand date back to the 1950s when they were dairy stores selling bread, milk and other staple food items. The Iandoli family purchased the Honey Farms chain along with a few legacy Millbrook Farms stores in July 1969.
The family began operating delis and supermarkets back in the 1920s.
After the supermarket business was sold in 1985, the Honey Farms stores became the core focus of the family, and the business grew significantly under the leadership of the late Wilfred Iandoli and the current president and CEO, David Murdock, who has spent more than four decades with the company.
Commenting on the sale, Murdock said, “Having worked for Honey Farms and with the Iandoli family for over 40 years, the sale of the company is bittersweet, but the outcome for the family has been very successful. I want to thank the Iandoli family and our talented employees whose enduring commitment built an extremely strong company.”
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Honey Farms. The transaction was managed by Spencer Cavalier, Matrix managing director, VP Sean Dooley and Christian Klawunder, Matrix associate.
Cavalier said, “It was an honor to advise the Iandoli family and to work closely with Honey Farms’ talented management team which was led by David Murdock. The Iandoli family and the management team built an extremely successful company, and the late Wilfred Iandoli and his family have been extremely philanthropic in the greater Boston community.”
Global Partners is a logistics and marketing partnership that owns, controls and has access to one of the largest terminal networks of petroleum products and renewable fuels in the Northeast.
With approximately 1,500 locations primarily in the Northeast, Global is one of the largest regional independent owners, suppliers and operators of gasoline stations and convenience stores. Global is also one of the largest distributors of gasoline, distillates, residual oil and renewable fuels to wholesalers, retailers and commercial customers in New England and New York. The partnership is also engaged in the transportation of petroleum products and renewable fuels by rail from the mid-continental U.S. and Canada.
