Ahead of the Bell: Marathon sells travel centers

Pilot Travel Centers, formed in 2001, operate more than 300 locations in 40 states and one in Ontario, Canada. It supplies about 10 percent of truck diesel fuel used in the country, which makes the company the largest fuel supplier to the trucking industry.

Marathon, headquartered in Houston, is a major supplier of fuel to Pilot Travel Centers and said late Tuesday that following the sale it expects to remain one of Pilot's main suppliers.

"Marathon's decision to sell its interest in PTC is part of our ongoing review of Marathon's global asset portfolio, and is an appropriate time to capture the value created by this partnership," said Gary R. Heminger, president of Marathon's refining, marketing and transportation operations. "The sale brings our announced pretax sales values, including our previously announced sale of non-core Norwegian assets, to $1.1 billion, which is well on track to achieve our goal of $2 billion to $4 billion in gross proceeds by mid-year 2009."

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. served as Marathon's financial adviser for this transaction.

Pilot also is taking on a private equity partner that will own nearly 50 percent of the Knoxville travel center and convenience store operator. Knoxville-based Pilot Corp. said it is selling a 47.5 percent interest in Pilot Travel Centers to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.