An investment group has bought the Circle K Corp. for $399.5 million, and company officials say customers can expect continued improvements in the nation's second-largest convenience store chain.
But some things won't change."Same logo, same name. Just new owners," Circle K President and new CEO John Antioco said. "CK Acquisition brings capital to the equation that will allow us to continue to remodel our stores - internally and externally.
"We want to market better products and expand our gasoline marketing," Antioco added.
Tuesday's sale allowed Phoenix-based Circle K to become a private company and emerge from bankruptcy protection.
"It's all over," said company Chairman Bart A. Brown Jr. "If you look around our offices, you'll see a lot of happy faces. You might even see some dancing in the corridors."
At a news conference at company headquarters, Brown and Antioco held up purple T-shirts with the words "Weeee're Baaaack" and a slash through the circled No. 11 to signify the emergence from bankruptcy protection.
They said the shirts were being distributed to the company's 23,000 employees. At one time, Circle K employed 26,500.
"At this time, we see no need for any downsizing or streamlining," Antioco said. "We're down to our fighting weight. We just want to operate more efficiently and manage the company back to profitability. We expect to be in a profit situation in 1994."