As Supervalu divests stores, Tesoro plans to buy 51 Albertson’s Fuel Express stations, in addition to leasing 241 sites from Thrifty Oil Co.

Tesoro Corp. is set to grow its fleet of retail stores by 25% with the acquisition of about 290 locations from Supervalu Inc. and Thrifty Oil Co.

“The combined purchase and lease of these stations strengthens our refining and marketing integration by about 12%, adds profitable and secure outlets for our refined products and improves our company’s overall portfolio of retail assets,” Chief Executive Greg Goff told the Wall Street Journal.

The refiner plans to buy 51 Albertson’s Fuel Express stations from Supervalu for $34 million. It also aims to invest $5 million in branding capital. The soon to be acquired stations have total fuel sales of more than 5,000 barrels a day, and the deal is expected to close near the end of the year.

In addition, Tesoro plans to lease 241 retail stations, mainly located in Southern California, from Thrifty Oil Co., for an initial term of 10 years, investing $28 million in branding capital. The stations have total fuel sales of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Supervalu announced yesterday, Sept. 7, that it plans to sell 107 fuel centers to four separate buyers, as it looks to divest noncore assets.