FuelExchange Assists in Sale of Holden Oil

FuelExchange, a merger and acquisition service for the energy industry, recently provided advisory services during the sale of Holden Oil of Peabody, Massachusetts, to one of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Superior Plus Corp.

Established in 1924, Holden Oil is a third-generation retail energy distributor serving approximately 8,750 residential and commercial customers in the Northeast.

“We wanted to explore the idea of selling, just to see what kind of price the business might command,” said Chuck Holden, chief executive officer of Holden Oil. “The FuelExchange team was terrific about taking us through the valuation process. We particularly appreciated their emphasis on taking a long-term view. They wanted to be sure that the proceeds from the sale would be enough and would be well managed to ensure a secure future for our family. That gave us the confidence to move forward with the sale.”

“We have had a long and mutually respectful relationship with the Holden family,” said Joe Ciccarello, CPA, MST, managing member of FuelExchange and a partner with Gray, Gray & Gray. “We appreciate the trust they placed in us to structure and complete the sale of what has been a three-generation business.”

Holden added, “FuelExchange is very well connected in the industry. As a result, they had a lot of companies interested in buying our company. They worked with us to not only find the right company to take care of our customers, but to get a fair price for the business. In the end we got the best deal we felt possible.”

FuelExchange is a service created by Gray, Gray & Gray, a consulting, accounting and business advisory firm serving the retail energy industry, to provide a clearinghouse for companies interested in buying, selling or merging fuel oil, propane or petroleum businesses. FuelExchange helps facilitate transactions within the energy industry as a “one stop” source for business valuation, marketing and negotiation of sales, purchases and mergers.