James W. Keyes

7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience store chain operating, franchising and licensing more than 60,000 stores in 18 countries, of which nearly 10,700 are in North America. 7-Eleven also is one of the nation's largest independent gasoline retailers. Its company’s name was changed from The Southland Corporation to 7-Eleven, Inc. after approval by shareholders on April 28, 1999. Founded in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven pioneered the convenience store concept during its first years of operation as an ice company when its retail outlets began selling milk, bread and eggs as a convenience to guests.

CIC Partners invests in the food, restaurant, energy and healthcare services sectors. They look for companies with revenues from $10 million to $500 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $50 million. The firm provides capital for MBOs, recapitalizations, growth financings and venture capital formations. Investments range from $5 million to $50 million. The firm may purchase the entire company or may make a minority investment. They seek to partner with proven management that has demonstrated excellence and desires to develop a meaningful equity position in a growing business.

Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger with Standard Oil of California, Gulf was one of the chief instruments of the legendary Mellon family fortune; both Gulf and Mellon Financial had their headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.