Motiva Enterprises Sells 22 Shell Stations

Motiva officials say the 22 service stations were sold to Connecticut Dealer Stations LLC and 372 Wilton Associates, a Connecticut-based real estate investment company. Connecticut Dealer Associates is an affiliate of Wholesale Fuel Distributors Inc., which operates 44 convenience stores and service stations throughout Connecticut and New York, according to the company website. The firm did not return phone calls for comment on its purchase.

A key component of the deal is that Motiva entered a wholesale marketer agreement with a Wholesale Fuel Distributors CT LLC, an affiliate of the Briarcliff Manor firm Wholesale Fuel Distributors, which also acquired all of the dealer leases and supply agreements for the 22 service stations. All dealerships will continue to operate as Shell-branded facilities.

"With their extensive knowledge of the Fairfield market and long history of operational excellence, Wholesale Fuel Distributors will make an excellent addition to the Motiva retail network," says Jim Deakin, eastern regional manager for Motiva. "Working with Wholesale Fuel Distributors, we look forward to serving Fairfield area motorists, providing them with the quality fuels they have come to expect from the Shell brand."

A Motiva spokesperson says the deal is in line with a program launched in 2005 by the company to "transition company-owned retail assets to wholesale supplied locations." On March 3, Motiva Enterprises reported it had reached an agreement to sell 51 stations in the greater New Orleans area to a partnership of Shell Oil wholesalers Slidell Oil Co. and Lavigne Oil Co.