Global Partners LP

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Global Partners Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of the call. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. With us from Global Partners are President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eric Slifka, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gregory Hansen, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mark Romain and Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Sean Geary. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Geary for opening remarks. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Today's call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements include projections, expectations, and estimates concerning the future financial and operational performance of global partners. which are based on assumptions regarding market conditions, demand for liquid energy products and convenience store products, the regulatory and permitting environment, the forward product pricing curve, and other factors which could influence our financial results. We believe these assumptions are reasonable given currently available information. Our assumptions and future performance are subject to a wide range of business risks, uncertainties, and factors which are described in our findings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. and which could cause actual results to differ materially from the partnership's historical experience and present expectations or projections. Global Partners undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements. Any material comments concerning future results of operations will be communicated through news releases, publicly announced conference calls, or other means that will constitute public disclosure for the purposes of regulation FD. Now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Eric Slifka.

Thank you, Sean, and good morning, everyone. Let me begin with what we consider to be a transformational deal for Global, our definitive agreement to acquire 25 refined product terminals from Motiva Enterprises for $305.8 million. To put this acquisition in context, today we own or lease 24 bulk terminals, primarily in the Northeast, with a combined storage capacity of approximately 9.9 million barrels. The addition of the Motiva terminals diversifies our terminaling operations into new geographies along the Atlantic coast, in the southeastern US, and in Texas, providing platforms for growth in supply, wholesale, commercial, and retail. In all, we will be adding approximately 8.4 million barrels of shell capacity for products including gasoline, ultra-low sulfur diesel, and ethanol. The terminal portfolio is well maintained and strategically located with direct connections to critical, highly utilized U.S. refined product infrastructure, including the Colonial Plantation, Enterprise, Explorer, and Magellan pipelines. The transaction is underpinned by a 25-year take or pay throughput agreement with Motiva. Let me provide a brief overview of the assets we're acquiring. The Atlantic Coast assets consist of ten bulk terminals in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with a combined storage capacity of approximately 3.4 million barrels. The Southeast assets consist of eight bulk terminals in Florida and Georgia, with a combined storage capacity of about 3.4 million barrels. The Texas assets consist of seven bulk terminals with a combined storage capacity of approximately 1.6 million barrels. Upon closing, our storage capacity will be 18.3 million barrels, an increase approximately of 85% from our capacity as of September 30th. This transaction aligns with our strategy to acquire invest in, and optimize assets that drive operating synergies. The terminals we are acquiring provide critical midstream infrastructure with the flexibility to serve customers through multiple modes, including ship, barge, pipeline, rail, and truck. In addition, we gain further operational capacity for our own volumes as we continue to grow. We expect the Motiva transaction to close by the end of this year, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. We look forward to optimizing and developing these thermal assets to their full potential. I also want to touch on our planned acquisition of five Gulf Oil refined product thermals in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey. We continue to diligently work through the regulatory review process and remain hopeful that we will be able to complete the acquisition this year. Turning to Q3, the global team delivered solid results in the quarter, which was in line with our expectations in a more normalized market compared with last year. We continue to deliver value across the midstream and downstream liquid energy markets providing customers with essential products and services through our integrated fuel storage, distribution, and retail assets. As part of our alternative fuel strategy, we recently activated our first company-owned electric vehicle charging stations. The DC fast charging stations are located at our Extra Mart convenience and fueling station in Worcester, Massachusetts, and at our newly opened Alltown Fresh kitchen and marketplace in Fort Edward, New York. While the new charging stations are the first owned by Global, they are not the first in our portfolio. We operate two EV charging station sites with charges owned by a third party and have five more sites under construction. We continue to focus on contributing to state and regional energy initiatives. Given the scale of our GDSO business, We believe we are well positioned to play an integral role in the transition to alternative energy sources, providing a range of multi-fueling options for consumers. Turning to our distribution. In July, the Board approved a quarterly cash distribution of $68.50 or $274 on an annualized basis on all outstanding common units. The distribution will be paid on November 14th to unit holders of record as of the close of business on November 8th, 2023. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter in which the Board has increased the cash distribution. With that, now let me turn the call over to Greg for his financial review. Greg?