Situation
Champlain Oil Company, Inc. (“Champlain” or the “Company”) was founded in 1949 by C. Douglas Cairns in Burlington, VT. Several decades later, in 1990, the Company acquired the Jiffy Mart brand along with 13 company-operated locations from Jiffy Mart, Inc, and in the decades that followed Champlain grew into one of the largest petroleum wholesale distribution and convenience retail marketers in the northeast.

The Company owned and operated 37 Jiffy Mart branded convenience stores, owned or leased 21 dealer and commission agent locations.  The Company also supplied motor fuels under contract to 65 stations throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as to commercial, industrial, and municipal customers on a non-contract basis.   Additionally, Champlain owned and operated three cardlock fueling facilities, offered two fleet card programs, as well as operated its own fuels transportation fleet.

The Company’s President, Tony Cairns, and his family sought to exit the convenience store and petroleum marketing business to diversify their wealth and focus on other business and real estate ventures.

Objective
To customize, execute, and complete a confidential sale process that would allow the Cairns family to realize maximum after-tax value upon the sale of the Company.

Solution
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Champlain, which included valuation advisory, marketing of the Company through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction.

Multiple competitive offers were received, and Global Partners LP (“Global”) was ultimately selected as the acquirer.

Matrix assisted in the negotiation of the asset purchase agreement and coordinated the due diligence and closing process.

The transaction with Global closed in July 2018 with the vast majority of Champlain’s employees continuing their careers with Global.