Millers Energy sells retail, motor fuel assets

Millers Energy has sold its 21 company-operated petroleum marketing and convenience retail stores, two company-owned dealer-operated stores and more than 70 wholesale dealer accounts.

Global Partners acquired Millers’ stores and wholesale dealer accounts located in Virginia and North Carolina; Sunshine Gasoline Distributors acquired the wholesale dealer accounts in Florida.

“The addition of Millers significantly expands our retail presence in the mid-Atlantic region and complements our portfolio of over 80 controlled sites and dealer network,” says Global Partners President and CEO Eric Slifka. “Like Global, Millers is a family-founded business with shared values around community and a commitment to customer experience.”

The parent company of Millers Energy, Miller Oil Co., will continue to own and operate a heating oil distribution and HVAC service business with operations in Virginia.

Miller was founded in 1977 by Augustus “Gus” Miller when he purchased Exxon Co. USA’s home heating oil business in Norfolk, Virginia. Throughout the 1980s, the business expanded into convenience retailing and petroleum marketing. In the 2000s, the fuels distribution business expanded into southern Florida with the acquisition of a dealer portfolio.

“After 40 years in a great industry that gave me and my family so much, we decided to focus on other areas of our business,” Miller President Jeff Miller says. “We feel Global is a good fit culturally and feel confident our brand and employees will be well taken care of.”

Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc., an independent middle-market investment bank, served as Miller’s adviser during the transaction. The transaction was managed by Cedric Fortemps, co-head of Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; Martin McElroy Jr., senior associate; and Michael Tucker, senior analyst.

Tom Frantz, Otto Konrad and Meagan Kalantar of Williams Mullen served as legal counsel for Miller.

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