RICHMOND, VA – May 31, 2016 – Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. (“Matrix”) announces the successful closing on the sale of District Petroleum Products, Inc. & Related Entities (the “Company” or “District Petroleum”) to an affiliate of Dunne Manning, Inc. The Company, headquartered in Huron, OH, owns and operates twenty-two (22) Hy-Miler convenience stores and distributes and transports motor fuels to branded dealers and marinas throughout Ohio.
District Petroleum was founded in 1951 by a group of Sandusky Ohio industrialists that needed fuel and lubricants for their factories, boats and airplanes. The Company eventually made the decision to contract with Shell Oil Company for all of its petroleum needs, and in the early years operated as a small jobbership, distributing gasoline to a few dealer-operated locations, as well as selling fuel oil to home heat customers and lubricants to industrial accounts. With gasoline marketing beginning to change with the advent of self-serve gasoline and competitive street pricing, the Hy-Miler brand was born in 1976. Hy-Miler then became the name of the convenience store chain as new stores were added.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to the Company, which included valuation advisory, marketing of the Company through a customized, confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction. The transaction was co-managed by Spencer Cavalier, Managing Director and Thomas Kelso, Managing Director and Head of the Downstream Energy & Retail Team. Sean Dooley, Vice President, and Christian Klawunder, Associate, also advised on the transaction.
Scott Stipp, President of District Petroleum, commented “This was a tough process; bittersweet. I could not imagine attempting to navigate these waters without the knowledge and support of Matrix and their team of professionals.“
Mr. Cavalier commented, “Mike and Scott Stipp along with their Chief Financial Officer, Timothy Donnelly, and V.P. of Retail Gary Gockstetter have built a very strong company over the decades, and we were honored to advise the shareholders through a complex transaction that resulted in a highly successful exit from the industry and the monetization of significant family capital.”
Russell Rosler, Frank Zonars, Kristin Watt and Theodore Smith of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, served as legal counsel for District Petroleum.