Transaction Announcement: Putnam Co. & Acorn Markets, Inc. sells to United Refining Company of Pennsylvania
Wellsboro, PA (December 1, 2020) – Acorn Markets, Inc and Putnam Co., (the “Company”) has announced the successful sale of its convenience retailing and ExxonMobil branded fuel distribution business assets to United Refining Company of Pennsylvania and its affiliates. Prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company requested Corner Capital’s valuation and strategic advisory services to assist the Company in scenario planning. Despite the pandemic, the Company elected to market its 80-year-old business in a structured sale M&A process.
Ed Owlett, President and CEO of the Company commented upon the closing of the sale, “This transaction represents the conclusion of a thoughtful strategic process undertaken in a tumultuous climate. Our family and employees are pleased with the end-result as 2020 comes to a close. Corner Capital’s advice and assistance proved to be a critical factor in our successful exit.”
Founded in 1938 by G. Mason Owlett and William A. Ridge as an Esso branded gasoline distributorship and named after Putnam Township in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Acorn Markets became a regional retail brand in Northern Pennsylvania known for its reliable & unique food service offerings, excellent customer service, and quality fuel retailing with the Exxon brand. The sale included all of the Company’s convenience retail assets along with its ExxonMobil branded fuel distribution assets.
Corner Capital is pleased to have been a part of Acorn Markets’ strategic asset divestiture,” stated Kevin Henrick of Corner Capital, “and we are especially honored to have had the opportunity to work with a client relationship dating back over 20 years. We are appreciative of the trust that Ed and Beth had in Corner Capital assisting them as they move towards their next chapter.”
Williams Mullen served as legal counsel to Acorn Markets / Putnam in the sale.
ABOUT PUTNAM CO. AND ACORN MARKETS, INC.
Putnam has been a fuel distributor since 1938, and a branded marketer for ExxonMobil since the late 1980’s. In the early 1980’s, the Company built its first Acorn Markets store, and gradually focused on convenience retailing throughout the years. The stores serve an 8-county region in north-central and north-eastern Pennsylvania along with two stores in southern New York state. Acorn Markets | Home
ABOUT CORNER CAPITAL
Since 2006, Corner Capital provides financial and strategic advisory services to entrepreneurs, operating companies, financial institutions, and investors in all segments of the Downstream Energy Industry and including Convenience Retailing and all multi-unit retail formats. For more information, please visit http://www.cornercapitalpartners.com/ or contact P. A. Weber III (Andy) at aweber@cornercapitalpartners.com, (805) 965-5510.
ABOUT WILLIAMS MULLEN
Williams Mullen is a full-service law firm with approximately 240 attorneys in offices across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Otto Konrad, partner at Williams Mullen, focuses on finance, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and commercial real estate. For more information, please visit williamsmullen.com or contact Otto Konrad at okonrad@williamsmullen.com, (804) 420-6093.
ABOUT UNITED REFINING OF PENNSYLVANIA
United Refining Company is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products based in Warren, PA, and operates over 350 retail outlets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, including Kwik Fill, Red Apple Food Marts, and Country Fair retail brands. URC – United Refining Company