Situation
Li’l Thrift Food Marts, Inc. (“Li’l Thrift” or the “Company”) is a leading North Carolina petroleum marketer and convenience retailer, with 43 company-operated sites concentrated in Fayetteville and the surrounding area operating under the proprietary Short Stop store brand.

The Company was founded in 1971 by Vance B. Neal with a single store in Burlington, NC.

With the 1985 acquisition of E-Z Shop, Li’l Thrift nearly doubled its marketing footprint with an additional 23 stores in North Carolina. The Company continued to build its presence in the Fayetteville market in 2004, purchasing another seven Exxon-branded locations.

Vance Neal’s children, Chris Neal and Mary Morketter, took up leadership as the Company’s President and Vice President in 2010 and continued to build upon their father’s legacy. They worked to modernize the portfolio’s IT systems and operations with scanning and fuel equipment software, but remained truly committed to the Company’s high standards of cleanliness and service.

Objective
To customize, execute, and complete a confidential sale process that would allow the Company’s shareholders to realize maximum after-tax value upon the sale of Li’l Thrift, while retaining certain key real estate and negotiating a post-closing fuel supply relationship between the buyer and the shareholders’ separate wholesale fuel company.

Solution
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Li’l Thrift, which included valuation advisory, marketing of the business through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the transaction.

Multiple competitive offers were received, and Petroleum Marketing Group, Inc. (“PMG) was ultimately selected as the acquirer.

Matrix assisted in the negotiation of the purchase agreement and corresponding post-closing lease, as well as coordinated the due diligence and closing process.

The transaction with PMG closed in April 2023.