Johnson Oil Company

The Trigger:

• The founding shareholder passed away at the age of 83, leaving the entire Company to his widow. Prior to passing, numerous assets were conveyed to his children and grandchildren as part of advanced estate planning. The founder also owned, outside of the business, multiple cattle ranches and oil field assets.

The Project:

• After performing a valuation for Johnson Oil Company, the remaining family shareholders and the Board of Directors decided in the Company’s best interest to divest of the Company’s assets through a structured process with Corner Capital.
• Corner Capital recommended that the Company be divested by certain asset-classes to optimize the value for the family’s estate and ultimate distribution.
• This recommendation would produce certain operational challenges for the Company if the assets did not transact along a specific sequence and timeline.

The Solution:

• All assets of the Company and its business lines were marketed to select target groups along the Company’s three primary business lines – Convenience Retail, Dealer Fuel Supply, and Commercial Fuels & Lubricants, including the sale of “Mama’s Kitchen” foodservice operations.
• To optimize the value of the transaction, the buyers could purchase single or multiple business lines in the transaction.
• Corner Capital executed a structured and highly competitive sale process, separating valuable segments from its integrated operations.
• Certain integrated bulk-plant/retail facilities would require re-platting, various easements, and shared UST agreements between the Company and separate buyers.

The Result:

• The Company was marketed to key financial and strategic buyers. After numerous competing offers, a single buyer for Convenience Retail and Dealer Fuel Supply businesses was chosen, as well as a single buyer for the Company’s Commercial Fuels & Lubricants business.
• Alimentation Couche-Tard (Circle K) was selected as the purchaser for the Company’s Convenience Retail and Dealer Fuel Supply business, which will operate c-stores under the Circle K brand, and provided a key foundation for its growing dealer business in the state of Texas.
• The remaining Commercial Fuels and Lubricants business remained self-contained within the Company, and a separate buyer purchased that segment subsequent to the Circle K transaction.