Empire Petroleum Partners has acquired 57 dealer supply contracts from
Certified Oil Company in a deal the company says provides it with a
"considerable" footprint in Ohio.

Details of the acquisition were not made public.

Dallas-based Empire already distributes motor fuel products in the
Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern, Southwestern and Midwestern states. Certified has
been operating in Ohio since 1939, when the business began with the opening of
a gas station in Piqua.

"The Certified book of business provides considerable penetration into the
state of Ohio, with concentration more specifically in the Columbus and
Cleveland markets," Empire said in an announcement about the deal. The company
said Certified's dealer supply contracts strengthen its relationships with some
of its key branded partners, including Exxon, Marathon, Sunoco and Valero.

Empire said the deal is part of an ongoing eight-year acquisition effort.

In August 2018, the company announced it had acquired the retail fuel
distribution business of Tulsa, Okla.-based B&M Oil Company, its third
acquisition in Oklahoma in two years. In June of that year, it announced its
purchase of the wholesale distribution business of Willoughby Inc., which
expanded the company's footprint in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.

--Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com



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