Sunoco Puts 60 Retail Outlets Out for Bid

PHILADELPHIA-Locally based Sunoco is selling 60 retail outlets in the Northeast with long-term supply agreements from the seller. The sale sites are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio, with a majority in Pennsylvania. Of the approximately 60 retail units, 43 are company operated. Of those, 39 are fee and four are leased. The additional 17 are temporarily closed. All of those are fee and will be reopened with a dealer supply franchise agreement with Sunoco.

Chicago-based NRC Realty Advisors LLC is coordinating the sale through a sealed bid "buy one, some or all" format. NRC will conduct a series of how-to-bid seminars. A complete list of locations, each with lot size, retail unit size, total number of gas gallon deliveries in 2004 and total dollars of merchandise sales in 2004, is available on an NRC website.

Sealed bids are due June 3. Each must contain a certified or cashiers check totaling 2.5% of the purchase price or $10,000, whichever is greater, and a purchase of sale agreement on fee sites or an assignment of leasehold on leased sites. Successful bidders are expected to enter into a Sunoco dealer supply agreement for 10 to 15 years as designated in a site's purchase of sale agreement for fee sites or until the end of the lease term and option periods on assignment of leasehold agreements. Bidders for locations containing an APlus convenience store are required to keep the APlus brand and pay a $30,000 franchise fee in addition to the purchase price.

This is NRC's fourth offering for Sunoco. Since April 2003, it has coordinated three separate offerings for an aggregate of 173 Sunoco retail outlets, raising more than $105 million in proceeds. "Our plan of selective divestment of assets while retaining the motor fuel volumes has proven to be an effective strategy as we seek to maximize shareholder value," says Robert W. Owens, Sunoco's SVP of marketing.