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April 25, 2016

Pine State Trading sells its c-store division

Courtesy / Pine State Trading Co. Left to Right: Keith Canning, Pine State Trading Co. managing partner, Gena Canning, Pine State Trading Co. managing partner, and Nick Alberding, CEO of Pine State Trading Co.

Pine State Trading Co., a Gardiner-based family-owned company with customers throughout New England and parts of New York state, said Monday it will sell its convenience store division to Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc.

Pine State Convenience serves more than 4,000 convenience stores from Fort Kent to New York, including independent stores and chain stores such as Big Apple.

Core-Mark (NASDAQ: CORE), one of North America’s largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry, is based in South San Francisco, Calif., and had sales last year of $11 billion.

Neither side reported terms of the deal, but Reuters reported that it is estimated to be worth $112 million.

Keith Canning, a principal owner and managing partner of Pine State, will become the president of Pine State Convenience, a division of Core-Mark.

Canning said Core-Mark’s investment in Maine means “advanced technology and proven marketing programs that will provide new opportunities to help our customers continue to grow.”

All employees will be retained by the new operation, according to a joint release from Pine State Trading, which is based in Gardiner. Core-Mark will operate out of Pine State’s facility at Market Street Business Park in Gardiner.

Other Pine State Trading divisions will be unaffected. They are Pine State Beverage, Pine State Spirits, Pine State Vending and Town & Country Foods. These divisions will continue under the same family ownership and management as they do today.

Nick Alberding, CEO of Pine State Trading, said Core-Mark “values the relationships we have built over the years, and most importantly, respects our culture, as well as our experienced and talented employees.”

The deal widens Core-Mark’s geographic footprint in New England and will offer Pine State Convenience customers “a new spectrum of products and marketing programs that have brought our own retailers success,” Tom Perkins, president and CEO of Core-Mark, said in a release.

The Pine State Trading corporate headquarters and leadership team, including owners Alberding and Gena Canning, a managing partner, will relocate to newly leased office space in Libby Hill Business Park in Gardiner.

Covington Associates LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pine State Trading in connection with this transaction.

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