RICHMOND, VA – August 22, 2006 – Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. announced today the successful closing on substantially all of the assets of FFP Operating Partners LP, a Texas-based owner and operator of convenience stores and gas stations and fuel supply agreements in various states in the South and Midwest.
In late 2005, Matrix was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, to market 114 of FFP’s locations. As of today, FFP Operating Partners, L.P. has sold, received consideration for, or is under contract on 89 of the stores and fuel supply agreements. The 80 convenience stores and gas stations and fuel supply agreements where sale transactions have been completed were sold to 50 various purchasers, including Petroleum Wholesale, L.P.’s acquisition of 8 fuel supply agreements and Naeem Khalid’s acquisition of 7 stores. Matrix’s marketing efforts also allowed FFP to receive consideration from an existing landlord for another seven stores where land and equipment were successfully jointly marketed.
In total, FFP locations sold approximately 48 million gallons of motor fuels and $28 million of merchandise goods during the twelve-month period ended June 2005. Eighty-eight of FFP’s stores and fuel supply agreements are located in Texas, seven are in Tennessee, five are in Missouri, four each are in Louisiana and Mississippi, three are in Kentucky and there is one store each in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The few remaining locations still for sale can be found on the Matrix web site at http://www.matrixcapitalonline.com/ffpauction/ffp_storelist.html.
Matrix served as the exclusive financial advisor for the Debtor, FFP Operating Partners, L.P., in its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case. Tom Kelso, Managing Director and head of the Energy and Multi-Site Retail Group at Matrix, managed the transaction. “This was a difficult assignment because the bankruptcy case had been ongoing for nearly two years before the decision to sell the assets and hire Matrix was made,” said Kelso. “In addition, prior to filing bankruptcy, FFP had tried to market the assets and many potential purchasers had already looked at the assets and taken a pass. Despite facing these challenges, we believe that because of our unique sale process and the efforts of Mark Lipscomb and the FFP team, the results for the creditors have been excellent.”
Mark Lipscomb, President of FFP, commented on the sale process, “Tom, Cedric, Matt and the whole Matrix team were able to bring a wide variety of potential buyers down to our area, which helped maximize the proceeds for this sale process.”
Matrix’s Energy and Multi-Site Retail Group is recognized as the national leader in providing transactional advisory services to companies in the energy and multi-site retail sectors. Team members are dedicated to these sectors and draw upon complementary experiences to provide advisory services to complete sophisticated merger and acquisition transactions, private debt and equity raises, corporate restructurings, and corporate valuation and long term planning engagements.