BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Ocean Petroleum Inc. has divested its entire branded and unbranded dealer supply business as part of a strategic business reorganization. Included in its sale to United Fuel, Stockbridge, Ga., are both CITGO and Valero dealer supply relationships in southeastern Georgia.

The sale allows marketer United Fuel to further expand its established CITGO and Valero dealer network and extend southward in the Georgia market. “This new acquisition adds another piece to our long-term dealer business growth strategy. We look forward to serving these new customers and delivering the same level of support that they enjoyed over the years with Ocean Petroleum,” said Bunty Doshi, president of United Fuel.

Rethinking the Business

Established in 1973 in Macon, Ga., as OSAN Petroleum by Walter and Jack Oswald, the business expanded into Brunswick, Jesup and Nahunta, Ga. In 2008, the Brunswick operation converted to Ocean Petroleum and is managed by Ashley Oswald Davis.

“After conducting a comprehensive business assessment in the summer of last year, we determined that our primary focus should be on the commercial side of our business. From this assessment, we created and implemented a strategic reorganization plan that included the divestiture of our dealer business,” said Davis. “We look forward to receiving our official designation as a women-owned small business and are confident that continued implementation of our focused plan will help ensure that our business successfully transcends to another generation of our family.”

Growing United

This transaction marks the second dealer supply business acquisition for United Fuel in the past 60 days. In April, the company purchased the branded and unbranded dealer supply business of CITGO- and Valero-branded marketer Jerry’s Oil Co. Inc.

PetroActive Real Estate Services LLC, Coral Gables, Fla., provided confidential advisory services to Ocean Petroleum for both its strategic plan development and for the divestiture of the dealer business.

“The downstream oil business has become so competitive that traditional marketers need to pragmatically assess their businesses to determine their core competencies, then focus their attention and resources to grow that part of the business. Ashley did this with her company and is successfully working her plan. Ocean is now in a better position to succeed,” said Mark Radosevich, president of PetroActive Services.

“My firm has been tasked with the challenge of helping United Fuel grow its dealer supply business,” said Mark Purtee, a representative of Murphy Business and Financial Services LLC, which provided advisory services to United Fuel for this transaction. “We realized from the beginning that the Ocean Petroleum opportunity fit their plans perfectly.”

Frank Callaway provided legal representation to Ocean Petroleum and closed the transaction. His firm is based in Atlanta and specializes in downstream petroleum distribution and real-estate transactions.