Maverik acquires over 400 stores from Midwest convenience store chain

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — Adventure’s First Stop is taking on the Midwest.

Maverik and its primary owner, FJ Management, announced Friday that it will acquire Kum & Go, a similar regional gas station and convenience store brand that had just entered Utah’s market a few months ago.

Terms of the transaction were not released; however, Maverik will take over Kum & Go’s more than 400 locations across 13 states from its parent owner, Krause Group, helping it take a large chunk of the Midwest market. The Utah company is also taking over Krause Group’s tank truck carrier and logistic provider brand Solar Transport, as a part of the deal, Maverik officials say.

The agreement is expected to be finalized sometime over the next few months.

“We have long admired the Kum & Go brand. (The Krause family) and the generations before them have built an exceptional business that pairs quality with convenience and puts people first,” said Maverik President Chuck Maggelet in a statement. “We are honored to carry their legacy forward as we build on Kum & Go’s strong operating and innovation capabilities and expand our adventurous convenience experience.”

Iowa-based Kum & Go, founded by Bill Krause and Tony Gentle in 1959, opened a Draper store in December, making Utah its 12th state to do business in. The store was the first of a few dozen that the company announced it planned to build in the Beehive State. It also made Idaho its 13th state as it continued to expand up until Friday’s announcement.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the company will change its branding to Maverik at its hundreds of stores. But Tanner Krause, the president and CEO of Kum & Go and the great-grandson of Bill Krause, said Friday that he believes Maverik will take care of the businesses multiple generations of his family built.

“I’m confident the Maggelets and Maverik will be good stewards of Kum & Go’s people and culture for generations to come,” he said.

The deal allows for a “combined footprint” of more than 800 stores across 20 states, most of which are in the West and Midwest regions, according to Maverik.