LA PALMA, Calif. -- For the fifth month in a row, BP has announced plans to sell off part of its retail assets. The company's West Coast Products branch said yesterday it is selling 33 sites in Arizona and another seven sites in the Northern California market.
All sites are currently operating ARCO am/pm stations. The Arizona sites are generally located in the Tucson and Phoenix markets, while the Northern California sites are located from Redding, south through Turlock. All the sites have large convenience stores, which are being sold with 20-year am/[image-nocss] pm franchises and fuel-supply agreements from BP.
BP said the sale is part of its normal ongoing business activity, which includes a constant review of its network of sites to ensure it maintains an efficient and comprehensive offer to the customer. An integral part of this review includes an assessment of whether the company should continue to own any specific site.
Within any given market, there are sites that no longer make sense for BP to own, but may offer excellent opportunities for many dealer/franchisees to own and operate themselves, according to BP. The ARCO-branded network is made up of a mix of company- and dealer/franchise-owned locations.
This is the fourth selloff announcement from BP in as many months.
In August, the major oil company said it would exit the retail business in Nashville, Tenn. This entailed selling 25 stores first to its jobbers, then to a wider audience. In July, the company let go of seven sites in the Central/Southern California market, including the Arroyo Grande, Piru and Riverside areas. And in June, the company announced it would completely exit the Denver market, selling off 100 sites, first to jobbers and franchisees, then to a wider audience. Last month, the company announced the sale of 50 of the Colorado stores to Denver-based K&G Petroleum LLC.
In all these cases, BP has referenced its ongoing review of its retail investments as the reason for the store sales. The goal, ultimately, is to invest in stores and markets that are the most lucrative for the company.
For the current Arizona/California sale, BP has retained NRC Realty Advisors LLC, Chicago, to coordinate the sealed-bid auction. This is a tremendous offering comprised of exceptionally strong sites, said Hope Mineo, managing director of NRC. We anticipate a great deal of interest.
The locations will be sold through a sealed bid sale in a buy one, some or all format with bids due on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005. A complete list of sites and information on submitting bids is available online at www.nrc.com/520 or by calling the NRC Customer Service Center at (800) 747-3342 Ext. 520.
NRC will conduct a how-to-bid seminar on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Phoenix and Thursday, October 27 in Sacramento. Color sales brochure and individual property-specific packages are available for each property.
NRC Realty Advisors LLC specializes in the sale of petroleum industry property and commercial real estate throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. It has sold more than 10,000 properties since its inception in 1989.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.