C-Store News

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Pantry Primed

Bid deadline announced for 74 sites, including 51 operating locations

CHICAGO -- The bid deadline for the 74 sites that The Pantry Inc. is divesting throughout the Southeast is July 20, 2010, and that details on each property are now available online, said NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC. Properties being sold include a mix of convenience stores with gasoline, standalone c-stores, former gas stations and prime real estate. Most of the stations are currently branded Kangaroo, Shell, Chevron, CITGO, Mobil, BP and Texaco.

The stores are located in a variety of markets, with seven in Alabama, 26 in Florida, three in Georgia, four in Kentucky, two in Mississippi, 14 in North Carolina, 10 in South Carolina, six in Tennessee and two in Virginia. Of the total, 51 are being sold as operating sites, 13 are former gas stations and 10 are undeveloped retail sites. Most of the operating sites are c-stores with gasoline, but a few are c-store only. In the total package, 18 sites are being sold as fee properties, 42 are offered as leasehold interest only and the remaining 14 can be purchased either as fee or leased properties.

"As expected, we're already seeing a great deal of interest in this sale," said Dennis Ruben, managing director of NRC, "and the full details about each site are now live on the website. Although the bid deadline is nearly seven weeks away, we encourage anyone interested in any of these properties to visit the website and begin their bidding process right away, so there will be plenty of time to put together a serious offer."

The stores are being sold using NRC's "buy one, some or all" sealed-bid sale process. Interested parties can register online for sale updates, as well as review a complete list of properties with photos and site-specific details, at www.nrc.com/1005, or by calling the NRC Customer Service Center at (800) 747-3342, extension 1005.

Some properties are available under NRC's Bid Now Online process, Ruben added, through which the seller may accept offers prior to the official bid deadline. That option is currently available at www.nrc.com/1005 for the former gas stations and undeveloped retail sites only.

Headquartered in Cary, N.C., The Pantry is the leading independently operated c-store chain in the southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated c-store chains in the country. As of May 3, 2010, the company operated 1,647 stores in 11 states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express, its primary operating banner. The Pantry's stores offer a broad selection of merchandise, as well as fuel and other ancillary services designed to appeal to the convenience needs of its customers.

NRC Realty & Capital Advisors, Chicago, provides a full array of real-estate and financial advisory services and specializes in the accelerated sale of commercial and residential real estate. NRC's breadth of experience includes portfolio evaluation and analysis; refinancing, recapitalization and sale-leaseback financing options; and merger and acquisition advisory services. Since its inception in 1989, NRC has sold more than 10,000 properties. That has included, since 2003 alone, more than 2,100 c- stores and gas stations for an amount in excess of $1.5 billion for clients.