Dive Brief:
- Arko Corp., parent of convenience retailer GPM Investments, has revealed plans to take its wholesale fuel distribution business public, according to a Friday announcement.
- Arko has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering for this division of its business, which it intends to call Arko Petroleum Corp., according to the announcement. The SEC will review the registration statement before it goes into effect.
- The move is part of Arko’s ongoing strategic plan that involves converting company-operated c-stores to its wholesale segment to reduce expenses. Once the IPO commences, Arko’s company-operated c-store business will be a standalone entity.
Dive Insight:
Arko’s leadership has repeatedly said the end-goal of converting stores to its wholesale segment is to yield a cumulative annualized operating income benefit of over $20 million. However, given its plans to IPO this side of the business, it’s now also clear that the company was looking to beef up that segment to prepare for this moment.
Assuming the IPO gets approved, Arko Petroleum’s business will include Arko’s wholesale segment, which supplies fuel to third-party dealers and consignment agents; its fleet fueling arm, which operates proprietary cardlock locations, manages third-party fueling sites and markets fuel cards; and its GPM Petroleum business, which supplies fuel directly to GPM Investments’ retail and wholesale sites.
The new company will “be responsible for the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to substantially all of ARKO’s retail convenience stores that sell fuel,” according to Friday’s announcement.
Arko’s roughly 1,200 remaining company-operated convenience stores will stand alone if the IPO happens. Despite this shift, there’s no indication that Arko intends to slow down its investments in these locations, which have recently included the rollout of its food-focused store design and the new Fas Craves foodservice program.
Arko’s store conversion strategy — also known internally as its dealerization program — has made great strides since becoming one of the company’s priorities. Through September of this year, Arko has converted 347 sites, according to the registration statement, and expects to continue that process in 2026.
A spokesperson from Arko did not respond by press time to a request for comment.
