TA to Buy Petro

**Mike432** · 05-31-2007 11:58 PM

TravelCenters Buys Petro
Deal Involves Acquisition of Nearly 70 Truck Stops

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TravelCenters of America said late Wednesday it has acquired fellow truck stop chain Petro Stopping Centers for about $700 million.

TravelCenters of America’s parent company Hospitality Properties Trust acquired 40 Petro travel centers and leased them to TA under a long-term lease.

The primary purchase price is $630 million. TA’s purchase price for other Petro assets, including two owned and one partially owned truck stop, closing costs and certain Petro employee retention payments, is about $70 million.

The Petro and TA brands will be operated separately, TA Chief Executive Officer Thomas O’Brien said in a statement.

Petro operates and franchises 69 travel centers in 33 U.S. states. Of those, it owns and operates 44 travel centers, franchises 24 and operates one as part of a joint venture.

TA has 164 truck stops, putting the combined company's number of stops 233 locations nationwide, second behind Pilot Travel Centers' 281 and ahead of No. 3 Flying J at 220.

Petro was formerly a privately owned company headquartered in El Paso, Texas. It was majority owned by a Texas family and minority owned by affiliates of Exxon Mobil Corp. and Sweden’s AB Volvo.

TA was acquired by Hospitality Properties Trust in late January and subsequently spun off from HPT. That $1.9 billion acquisition was first reported in September.

By Transport Topics (today copy of Transport Topics online edition)

Associate News Editor Jonathan S. Reiskin contributed to this story.

(Click here for previous coverage.)