Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. (Matrix), an independent investment bank, has announced that it has advised Santmyer Companies Inc. (Santmyer) on the sale of its Red Rover convenience retail stores to Par Mar Oil Company and its branded dealer wholesale business to Countywide Petroleum Company (subsidiaries of Croton Holdings Co.).
Santmyer is a privately-owned and family-operated full-service distributor whose primary offerings include diesel, gasoline, propane, lubricants, diesel exhaust fluid and logistics services. Santmyer was founded in 1952 when Myron Santmyer opened a Gulf service station in Dalton, Ohio, and became a Gulf distributor. In 1980, Myron's son Terry Santmyer purchased the business, which at the time was comprised of just two tank wagons and four employees. Terry began building the company into a leading full-service petroleum marketer that today employs more than 175 Ohioans.
In 2012, Terry's son Zach Santmyer became president of the company. Under Zach’s leadership, Santmyer expanded into propane, developed the Red Rover brand, became a Chevron-branded lubricants distributor, added the Sunoco and Exxon brands to offer customers a more comprehensive slate of fuels, and leveraged technology to modernize the company.
In 2021, Zach engaged Matrix to perform a strategic review of the Santmyer to assess capital allocation and the return on investment between business segments. With that analysis, the company decided to focus on the distribution of propane, commercial fuels, and lubricants. In early 2023, Santmyer purchased the commercial fuels and propane assets of Cole Distributing and made the strategic decision to divest its convenience retail and branded wholesale businesses.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Santmyer, which included valuation advisory, marketing the business through a confidential, structured sale process, and negotiation of the sale. The transaction was managed by Andrew LoPresti, CPA, CFA, vice president; Spencer Cavalier, CFA, co-head of Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; and Kyle Tipping, CFA, senior associate. Zach Santmyer, president of Santmyer, stated, “We are committed to evolving and growing our company based on our core competencies, and we engaged Matrix years ago as an advisor in that planning and evaluation process. Based on our strategic goals, we decided to divest our convenience retail and branded dealer wholesale businesses to narrow our strategic focus on commercial fuels, propane, lubricants, automated cardlocks and car washes. This transaction puts Santmyer in a great position to pursue future growth opportunities that align with these segments going forward."
