(Editor’s note: This article has been corrected from its previous post to more accurately describe the relationship between Pilot and Mountain Express.)
Nineteen Pilot-branded MEX outlets closed in fuel sales as a result of Mountain Express Oil’s bankruptcy.
Mountain Express, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a wholesale fuel and retail outlet operator that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in March. This week, the Chapter 11 motion was converted into a Chapter 7 petition, which is the winding up of the company.
in The statement has been published On its website in March announcing its Chapter 11 filing, Mountain Express also said it had entered into a joint venture with Knoxville, Tennessee-based Pilot/Flying J to become Pilot’s largest dealer in the United States.
According to a Pilot spokeswoman, the MEX centers are dealer locations. Mountain Express operates and owns the stores. Pilot provides fuel, and it is sold through Pilot-branded dispensers under the Pilot umbrella. She added that the sites are part of the Pilot network, “allowing guests to use prizes at the sites.”
“Mountain Express Oil Co. (MEX) and its affiliates have ceased operations due to Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation,” a Pilot spokeswoman said in an email to FreightWaves. “As a result, 19 MEX dealer locations within our network have been temporarily closed. The Pilot Company will continue to serve our valued customers at our more than 800 locations throughout North America.
A screenshot circulating on social media Friday signed by David Hughes, senior vice president of sales for Pilot, listed 19 outlets that Huges said were “out of business” due to Mountain Express’s bankruptcy. The closures were described as “temporary”, with a list of alternative pilot sites customers could visit.
MEX centers are not the same as experiential travel centers. Search for cities where MEX is stationed The pilot’s website lists its travel centers It does not list the different locations among the 19 MEX centers that were closed.
The 19 outlets listed in Hughes’ document line up specifically with the 19 that were mentioned in a trial filing in the bankruptcy case.
This filing, a notice of real estate interest, says that Pilot’s property at the sites includes diesel and diesel exhaust fluid contained in storage tanks; distribution equipment; various pieces of equipment related to sales; and storage tanks themselves.
The geographic range of 19 outlets includes Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Kansas, Louisiana and North Dakota.
The pilot is An 80% owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRC.B).
Small real estate complex shop
Real estate relationships in the convenience store world can be complex; That’s what It finally sank ARKO’s last-minute takeover bid for TravelCenters of America Get out from under BP, which was already announced a deal to acquire the travel center chain.
Ironically, Arko (NASDAQ: ARCO) And earlier this month, it made a $13.5 million bid for some of Mountain Express’s assets.
“We believe our proposal will allow the company to carry out an orderly winding-up of Mountain Express while allowing the majority of the company’s employees to continue to be employed,” reads the offer letter dated August 4 to several attorneys and financial representatives. “In addition, we believe our proposal will provide the opportunity for hundreds of the Company’s merchants to continue operating their small businesses in the terminals and provide employment for thousands of employees, rather than causing creditors, employees, merchants, and other stakeholders of the Company to be subject to Chapter 7 liquidation.”
sea Store Dive, An offer by ARKO subsidiary GPM Investments is now mediated between GPM and a debtor financing lender that owns possession, said a news outlet covering the convenience store industry, which has helped keep the company alive.
Fast rise, fast fall
Mountain Express operates convenience stores under several national brands, according to its website. In the bankruptcy court order to convert the filing to Chapter 7, the judge said all of those licenses had been terminated.
Some convenience stores operated by Mountain Express have already closed, according to C-Store Dive.
The recent history of the Mountain Express has been a story of rapid ups and downs. It was bought by Turjo Wadud in March 2020 from its founders. In the company’s announcement of the acquisition, Wadud was described as a “serial businessman”.
It has made several acquisitions, aided by the $205m debt financing it took out less than two years ago. That same month, October 2021, it also announced the acquisition of Brothers Food Mart, just seven months after the other acquisition in March of convenience store chain West Hill Ranch.
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