Presto convenience stores sold to North Carolina company

When Terry Presta received an unsolicited offer to purchase his Andover-based convenience store chain, it set off a process that culminated with Thursday's announcement that a North Carolina company will acquire Presta's 47 stores in Kansas and Missouri.

The Pantry said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Presto Convenience Stores, which operates 19 Wichita-area stores.

"Rather than accept that (unsolicited offer), we went through a process of offering it out to some industry people," Presta said Thursday.

Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in first quarter 2011, were not disclosed.

The deal includes the acquisition of the land under 36 of the 47 Presto stores.

The Pantry, based in Cary, N.C.-based, is a publicly traded company that made $1.8 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter. It operates more than 1,600 convenience stores in: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Most of its stores operate under the Kangaroo Express name.

"This acquisition expands our geographic footprint and creates new fill-in opportunities for future growth," Terrance Marks, the Pantry's president and CEO, said in a news release.

The Pantry said the Presto stores had revenue of $194 million in the 12 months ended in May.

A spokesman for the Pantry said the company would not comment on the acquisition beyond what was in a press release.

"They're a large company, and they have a lot of resources," Presta said. "They appear to me to be very well managed."

Presta said he expects the Pantry to do some upgrading to the Presto stores. He said his stores will continue to operate under the Presto name "at least into the near future."

Presto Convenience Stores has about 450 employees.

Presta said he didn't know what the Pantry's plans are for Presto's headquarters office. "They will have a regional office," he said.

Presta said he will work as a consultant for three years as part of the acquisition.

"I am going to stay on and help them with the transition," he said.

This story was originally published September 2, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Presto convenience stores sold to North Carolina company."