The purchase "is a continuation of our relationship with BP and the strength of working together," Kelly Kroll, director of marketing for Atlas Oil, told CSNews Online. "[The stores] overlay attractively with the current market space logistics and operations."

As reported in a CSNews Online news flash yesterday, the purchase will bring Atlas’ total BP station count in the region to 113, and is scheduled to close in June. Atlas will supply the locations with fuel, and will operate the stores initially, but in the future, may give dealers the opportunity to purchase sites from Atlas or employ another operational model, depending on the location, Kroll said.

The company’s focus on Chicago has come from its acquisitions strategy, which over the past several years has brought its from southwest Michigan to Indiana and farther west, Kroll said.

"There’s clear operational efficiency for transportation and logistics," he said. "Chicago is still a forward moving market space, and we are behaving like most other organizations and we follow the money."

With the completion of this deal, Atlas will manage the supply of nearly 400 retail locations in total throughout the U.S. In addition, Atlas’ annual distribution of BP fuel will top more than 300,000,000 gallons through this acquisition, making it one of BP’s largest distributors, according to the company.

"Atlas Oil Co. has proven to be a great business partner for BP," Sean Daley, vice president Midwest Sales of BP Products North America, said in a statement. "Atlas’ distribution, supply management and operational capabilities have given us considerable confidence and trust in their ability to manage these BP branded retail assets in one of the most important Midwest markets for BP and the ampm franchise offer."

But Atlas’ growth will not stop soon. By 2015, the company has a distribution goal of 5 billion gallons. Meanwhile, it continues its expansion through purchases such as this, which is the third from BP in a year. Previous transactions include 23 sites in September 2008, and 57 sites in January 2009.

"Despite challenging economic conditions nationally and in our home state of Michigan, we continue to meet our growth objectives in the Midwest market," Mike Evans, executive vice president of business development for Atlas Oil, said in a statement. "Each acquisition expands the markets in which we can prospect for new opportunities, and we look forward to being able to further develop our relationship with BP by converting additional locations to the BP brand."

Kroll added: "In general, recessions are bad for everyone’s growth plan, but it does provide some opportunities on the acquisition side, where some costs do go down. When the market is depressed there are bargains to be had."

By Mehgan Belanger

Ian Wade, co-CEO of China Nepstar, said, “This acquisition represents the initial step for China Nepstar to enter into the Beijing market, which we believe to have significant development potential. This is also our first chance to showcase Beijing customers our wide product offerings and advanced store management. We plan to continue to expand in Beijing through gradual ramp-up in new store openings and high quality acquisitions”.

The deal, which gives China Nepstar its first retail presence in Beijing, is expected to be completed in August.

With the implementation of the acquisition, Hualian experiences major executive changes. According to a report published by the company, Hua Guoping, the former general manager for Bailian’s supermarket business department, has been appointed general manager for the new Lianhua Supermarket, and Liang Wei, the former general manager of Lianhua Supermarket, has been appointed executive deputy general manager.

On the completion of the acquisition, Hualian Supermarket will become a subsidiary of Lianhua Supermarket and the number of Lianhua Supermarket outlets will be increased to 5,268, including 3,184 standard supermarkets.

According to Ma Xinsheng, the chairman of Bailian Group and Lianhua Supermarket, after buying Hualian Supermarket the group will consolidate store business through resource integration and will accelerate expansion to the second and third-tier markets in the Yangtze River Delta with the dual-brand market strategy.