Western Convenience Stores Sold to Pester Marketing
Offen Petroleum Partners with Lariat
Ferrero's Buys Nestle U.S. Candy Business
Shell Gets $16.4 Million Grant From California For Hydrogen Stations
Flavored Tobacco Ban to Go to S.F. Voters

WESTERN CONVENIENCE STORES SOLD TO PESTER MARKETING COMPANY

DENVER, CO. — Western Convenience Stores has sold its chain of 42 convenience stores and gasoline stations to Pester Marketing Company, based here. The price for the sale was not disclosed.

Included in the deal are all of Western Convenience Stores' retail locations located in Castle Rock, Thornton, Woodland Park, Lakewood, Brighton, Colorado Springs, Denver, Divide, Parker, Walsenburg, Loveland, Idaho Springs, Las Animas, Canon City, Grand Junction, Montrose, Delta, Longmont, Ft. Collins, Fowler, Pueblo, Broomfield, Poncha Springs, Burlington, Ft. Morgan, and Steamboat Springs, CO., as well as three locations in Nebraska.

"I am very pleased to be able to sell the Western portfolio of stores to Pester Marketing," said Hossein Taraghi, who founded Western Convenience Stores in 1989 and was serving as CEO and owner. "Our locations complement theirs and they are experienced operators with a great reputation in the industry." He added, "I wish them well going forward."

"We are extremely pleased to significantly expand our presence in our hometown market, and to introduce our services and products to Western's customers," stated Rich Spresser, president of Pester Marketing Company. "We welcome Western's employees into our family as well, and are excited about our combined future."

Pester Marketing Company operates 112 stores in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Kansas under the Alta, Kwik Stop, and Pioneer store brands and markets fuel under the Phillips 66, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Alta Fuel brands.

OFFEN PETROLEUM PARTNERS WITH LARIAT

DENVER, CO. — Lariat Partners, a private equity company, has joined with Offen Petroleum, based here. Lariat announced in January that they would invest in Offen Petroleum to allow the oil distributorship to expand.

"The strategic investment that Lariat Partners has made in our company will continue to fuel our growth," said Offen Petroleum CEO Bill Gallagher. "We have consistently grown over the past 20 years and this investment from Lariat will allow us to continue expanding into new markets through both greenfield locations and strategic add-on acquisitions."

Gallagher and his partner, Gwen Stukey, acquired the company in 1997.

"Offen is one of the few platforms of scale with a comprehensive team, state-of-the-art facilities, modern distribution fleet, and significant purchasing power that services Colorado and the broader Rocky Mountain region," stated Lariat Managing Partner Jay Coughlon, based in in Denver. "Offen's consumable product offerings, 20-year history, strong management team, and exciting growth plans make it an ideal fit for our investment strategy. We are thrilled to partner with Bill Gallagher and his team."

Offen Petroleum supplies branded and unbranded fuel, lubricants, and DEF in 12 states as well as operating trucks and logistics services in Colorado.

FERRERO BUYS NESTLE'S U.S. CANDY BUSINESS

GLENDALE, CA. — Nestle is selling its confectionery business based in the United States to Ferrero for $2.8 billion in cash. The sale is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

With the acquisition of Nestle's U.S. operations, Ferrero, based in Italy, will become the third largest chocolate company both in the United States and worldwide. The company recently acquired Fannie May Confections Brands and the Nestle purchase will further expand Ferrero's market share.

The deal includes Nestle's candy business including its Butterfinger, Crunch and BabyRuth brands which will be added to Ferrero's Rocher, Nutella and Tic Tac brands. The sale also includes Nestle's corporate offices in Glendale, CA., and its manufacturing plants in Bloomington, Franklin Park and Itasca, IL.

Nestle's Toll House chocolate baking products will remain under Nestle as a "strategic growth brand" the company will continue to develop.

"With Ferrero we have found an exceptional home for our U.S. confectionery business where it will thrive," said Nestle CEO Mark Schneider. He said the company will now look to expand into healthier products including "bottled water, coffee, frozen meals and infant nutrition."

"We are very excited about the acquisition of Nestle's U.S. confectionery business, which has an outstanding portfolio of iconic brands with rich histories and tremendous awareness," said Ferrero Group Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero. "We will have...exciting new growth opportunities in the world's largest confectionery market. We look forward to welcoming the talented team from Nestle to Ferrero and to continuing to invest in and grow all of our products and brands in this key strategic and attractive market."

SHELL GETS $16.4 MILLION GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA FOR HYDROGEN STATIONS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. —The California Energy Commission has awarded a grant of $16,362,500 to Equilon Enterprises, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, to build seven hydrogen refueling stations in Northern California.

The hydrogen fueling stations will be built in collaboration with Honda and Toyota, who also will provide additional funding for the stations.

The hydrogen fueling will be added to seven existing Shell-branded retail stations in Northern California: three in the city of San Francisco, and one in each of Berkeley, Sacramento, Citrus Heights, and Walnut Creek.

"We are grateful to the California Energy Commission for grant funding that will enable customers to choose hydrogen fuel alongside gasoline and diesel. We will apply our worldwide experience of more than 100 years in marketing transportation fuels to the success of these hydrogen refueling stations. We are also grateful for the contributions of Honda, Toyota, and Anglo American Platinum to these seven stations," stated Oliver Bishop, hydrogen general manager for Shell, announcing the grant. "A range of different fuels and vehicle technologies will be needed to meet transport needs in a low carbon energy future. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are one of these solutions."

When operational, Shell will operate nine hydrogen refueling stations in California.

FLAVORED TOBACCO BAN TO GO TO S.F. VOTERS

SAN FRANCISCO — Voters in San Francisco will have an opportunity in June to overturn a ban on sales of flavored tobacco, including menthol.

The ban was enacted in June by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the officials opted not to reconsider its ban after an outcry from local smokers and tobacco retailers.

Under the terms of the ban, sales of all flavored tobacco will be prohibited in San Francisco as of April 2018.

In order to overturn the ban, a campaign, "Let's Be Real, San Francisco — Coalition to Qualify Referendum on Flavored Tobacco Sales Ban" has successfully gathered enough signatures to place the repeal of the ban on the June 2018 ballot. The campaign was funded by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and met the signature goal with the assistance of San Francisco retail groups.

"You can't expect someone to build a business entirely anew when you've cut the legs off from underneath them and decide to criminalize a business they've been operating," said Miriam Zouzounis, a board member for the Arab American Grocers Association and a member of the San Francisco Small Business Commission, who testified against the Board of Supervisors' ban.

San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen, who introduced the flavored tobacco ban, said she would not back away from the ban, despite the success of putting the initiative on the ballot. "No cowering to R.J. Reynolds," she stated . "It's offensive that a company that kills people for a living is singularly bankrolling a campaign that they claim is about freedom of choice. Their campaign is all about protecting their products and cultivating new smokers and getting them hooked."

Others suggest that the ban will increase the cachet for flavored tobaccos and sent the sale of the products underground.

"Banning flavored tobacco products or any other substance people might want to put into their bodies is absolutely the wrong way to go," said Starchild, the vice chair of the San Francisco Libertarian Party. "All you do is create a black market and that creates more opportunities for police officers to target people in these marginalized communities."

Originally published in the February 2018 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2018 by KAL Publications Inc.