The acquisition cost wasn't available from either company or detailed in SEC filings. The heaviest concentrations of stations are Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Baton Rouge, LA and Phoenix. "This transaction offers great synergies with our existing retail network and supply chain," Gary Arthur, president of Valero's retail division, says in a press release.

A spokesman for the San Antonio-based Valero says "we already have about 950 company-owned stores in the Southwest and most are in the states where we're making the acquisition." The spokesman says the Boise, ID-based Albertsons' stores will be company owned locations by Valero and not branded wholesale sites, which is a franchise-type agreement between Valero and a local group. Valero has about 4,000 wholesale sites in its portfolio.

The spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that re-branding will begin immediately after the deal closes and should be completed in a matter of months. Some stores could be re-branded practically overnight. "Most of the stores are in operation," the spokesman says. "They're fairly new sites and are in good shape so they won't need a whole lot of renovation. Just new signage and reconfiguring of interiors to set up for the mix of products we sell."

The spokesman says the Albertsons offer was an opportunistic buy rather than a planned acquisition that had been in the pipeline a long time. "This was a group of stores coming from one buyer and going to one seller," he says. "It made good sense for us."