Of the total number of sites, 114 are owned in fee or subject to long-term leases. The remainder of the network includes supply for 36 contract dealer-owned and operated locations and 235 distributor sites. Of those, 31 are company-operated and have convenience stores that are currently branded Circle K. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. Sunoco will rebrand the sites to Sunoco gasoline and APlus convenience stores. Sunoco already has more than 4,500 retail sites selling gasoline and convenience products.

"This opportunity fits our long-term strategy to build a retail and convenience store network that will provide attractive long-term results," says John G. Droskick, Sunoco chairman and CEO. "This transaction will allow us to increase our presence in an attractive, growing market contiguous to our core northeastern market. This acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings and cash flow," he adds.

Sunoco, one of the largest independent refiner-marketers in the US, has a refining capacity of 890,000 barrels of petroleum a day. In addition, it has interests in nearly 11,000 miles of domestic crude oil and refined product pipelines and 33 product terminals.