Tooley Oil Company has sold its petroleum marketing and convenience retail business to an undisclosed, confidential buyer. Tooley Oil is a leading convenience retailer with stores throughout the Sacramento metropolitan area that market Shell, Chevron, and the Company’s proprietary Mixx-branded fuels. Matrix Capital Markets Group, a division of Citizens, advised on the sale.
Tooley Oil was founded in 1978, when Michael “Mick” C. Tooley purchased eight unbranded retail locations from Tosco. Throughout the 1980s, the Company operated stores under the Tooley Oil brand before transitioning to Shell-branded fuels. In the 1990s, Mick’s two sons, David and Michael, joined the family business and helped drive the Company’s continued growth. Shortly thereafter, Tooley Oil became a wholesale distributor for Shell Oil Company, expanding the business beyond its retail operations. More recently, in 2024, Tooley Oil rebranded nearly all of its convenience stores under the proprietary “Mixx Market” banner to enhance brand awareness and strengthen customer loyalty. At the same time, the Company made significant investments to upgrade several of its car washes and unified its car wash program under a proprietary “CleanMixx” brand. The transaction included 12 convenience retail stores and seven car washes. The Company retained its wholesale motor fuels distribution business and plans to use proceeds from the transaction to support its continued growth.
Matrix provided merger and acquisition advisory services to Tooley, including valuation advisory and the execution of a confidential, structured sale process. The transaction was managed by Cedric Fortemps, CFA, Co-Head of Matrix’s Downstream Energy & Convenience Retail Investment Banking Group; Andrew LoPresti, CFA, CPA, Director; Matthew Paniccia, CFA, Associate; and Josh Polce, CPA, Analyst.
Mick Tooley, President of Tooley Oil, commented, “After nearly 50 years of our family being in the retail business, this is certainly a bittersweet moment for us. We are extremely proud of the business we built and especially grateful to the dedicated employees who helped make it successful. The Matrix team was with us every step of the way in this process and really took the time to understand our business and what we wanted to accomplish. We had a tremendous amount of confidence in their advice and guidance throughout the process. While this closes an important chapter for our family, we’re excited about what’s ahead for Tooley Oil and the continued growth of our wholesale operations.”
Fortemps added, “Over its nearly 50-year history, the Tooley family built a very successful business with well-positioned stores in and around the Sacramento market. We’ve known Mike and David for many years and are honored to have been able to advise them on the successful sale of their convenience retail business. We look forward to seeing them continue to grow their wholesale business.”
Hank Wineman of Frasco Caponigro Wineman Scheible Hauser Luttmann, PLLC served as legal counsel to Tooley.
