3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
Mergers and acquisitions remain a hot topic for convenience retail. From small local pickups to hundreds of stores changing hands, each deal reshapes the competitive landscape.
On Thursday, financial advisory firm Corner Capital shared an overview of M&A activity in the downstream energy segment, which includes convenience retail.
In this week’s “3 Big Numbers,” we dig into that data.
2,700
The approximate number of stores and dealer sites that were part of U.S. M&A during the first three quarters of 2026
M&A has been busy, with 30 downstream deals announced through the end of Q3 — just slightly behind last year’s pace, according to the market update. Many of those deals included either owned c-stores or dealer sites.
In total, control of around 2,700 stores changed hands through the end of September, according to Corner Capital. That’s nearly 2% of the total number of convenience stores across the United States, based on NACS data.
3
The number of deals that made up the lion’s share of those acquired stores
Three of the 30 announced deals so far this year contained about three-quarters of all the stores that are expected to change hands, according to the market update. All three of them also came in the third quarter.
Arko Petroleum, the newly public fueling arm of Arko Corp., announced in August that it would acquire U.S. Petroleum Partners, which came with more than 400 dealer sites.
Also in August, Sunoco made a deal for Offen Petroleum, with over 800 dealer sites and a fuel distribution network that delivers roughly 2.5 billion gallons annually.
Finally, in September, Shell agreed to buy Tri Star Energy, which includes 320 stores and 552 dealer sites for a total of 872 locations.
5
The number of acquisitions Sunoco made through the end of Q3
Sunoco was responsible for five of the 30 acquisitions listed in Corner Capital’s report — more than any other acquirier mentioned.
Besides Offen, Sunoco purchased the 54-store Duck Thru c-store chain, 48 sites from Capitol Petroleum Group, an undisclosed number of dealer sites in a deal for the fuel supply business of Alexander Oil Company and 36 stores as part of a three-company deal to divvy up Pops Mart’s assets.
This plethora of deals follows Sunoco’s 2025 acquisition of Parkland and its large network of company-owned, dealer and wholesale stores.
The company has made M&A a priority, setting aside at least $500 million a year over the next few years for dealmaking.
“We exceeded this amount in 2026, and we expect this to be a modest bar in 2027 and beyond,” said President and CEO Joseph Kim during the company’s Q3 earnings call in early November.
