Aug 29, 2023 - Business

Kum & Go officially sells

A photo of a Kum & Go store.

Photo: Chet Strange/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The sale of Des Moines-based Kum & Go to Maverik — Adventure's First Stop was finalized Tuesday, company spokesperson Erica Turner tells Axios.

Why it matters: The 400+-store deal roughly doubles Maverik's footprint, making it the nation's 12th largest convenience store chain.

  • And it marks a significant transition for the Krause Group — Kum & Go's now-former parent company — whose real estate arm is trying to broker a $500 million downtown DSM development deal that includes a soccer stadium.

Catch up fast: Kum & Go, which opened almost 65 years ago, has locations in 13 states and employs roughly 5,000 people.

  • The amount of the deal was not disclosed but was valued at as much as $2 billion in February, Reuters reported.
  • Utah-based Maverik also purchased a tank truck carrier company, Solar Transport, from Krause Tuesday.
A photo of the Krause Gateway Center in Des Moines.
The Krause Gateway Center was designed by the world-renowned architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop and is assessed at almost $82 million by the Polk County Assessor. Photo: Jason Clayworth/Axios

What's happening: Maverik is opening a DSM office where about 250 Kum & Go and Solar employees that currently work from Krause Gateway Center (KGC) will be relocated, Maverik CEO Chuck Maggelet tells Axios.

  • The details about that location and a timeline for the transition haven't been announced, he says.

Meanwhile, there could be some employee downsizing as the companies merge, which Maggelet described as "limited."

  • Kum & Go's in Utah, Idaho, Colorado and in Wyoming and will be rebranded as Maverik stores. Iowa rebranding is still under consideration, he says.
A photo of Kum & Go and Maverik's CEOs.
Maverik CEO Chuck Maggelet (left) and Krause Group CEO Kyle Krause. Photo: Courtesy of Maverik; Jason Clayworth/Axios

State of play: Krause Group still owns nine other companies.

  • There are no plans to sell or vacate KGC, the nearly all-glass exterior six-story office building constructed about five years ago, CEO Kyle Krause tells Axios.

What's next: Negotiations with local governments to close a funding gap in the $95 million soccer stadium project are ongoing, per Krause.

  • If the project moves forward, the stadium would be owned by the nonprofit Iowa Soccer Development Foundation. Its roughly 100 associates would work out of the KGC, he said.

Of note: Krause and his wife, Sharon, have pledged $23 million to the soccer stadium.

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