Speedway To Leave Portsmouth, Ohio?
On Sunday, August 2nd, the popular convenience store chain 7/11 released a statement regarding their acquisition of one of their top competitors, Speedway. 7/11 purchased the rights to Speedway from Speedway’s parent company, Marathon Petroleum Corp. in a $21 billion dollar deal.
Speedway’s corporate headquarters is currently located in Enon, Ohio, and had recently completed a $48 million dollar expansion when this deal was made. The deal was unanimously approved by the board members of both companies and the acquisition is expected to be completed in early 2021.
This acquisition significantly increases the number of convenience stores under the ownership of 7/11. Before the deal was made, they had around 9,800 stores, and once the deal is completed they will have around 14,000 under their corporation.
Once this acquisition is completed, it is expected that many of the current Speedway locations will be converted into 7/11s, including the one in Portsmouth. It is currently unknown when this specific conversion may happen, but it could be as early as 2021.
With the demand for gas dropping substantially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Speedway executives believed this would be the perfect time to sell Speedway to a competitor, and all parties involved seem pleased with the outcome of the acquisition.
A few months ago, SCDN ran a story about a man on probation who refused to leave the premises of a local Speedway, and it is currently unknown whether he will have the same strong attachment to the future 7/11.
