GARDINER — Pine State Trading Co. is selling its convenience store division, by far the largest of its five divisions, to Core-Mark Holdings Company Inc., the nation’s second-largest convenience store supplier.

Pine State CEO Nick Alberding, a grandson of late company founder Charlie Canning Sr., said the new owner has vowed to keep all of about 540 employees now working for Pine State Convenience. The company will continue to operate out of the same Gardiner warehouse and offices, off Route 201 in the Market Street Business Park, the former Associated Grocers warehouse, which is part of the purchase.

“All jobs will be retained,” Alberding said Monday at Pine State’s Gardiner headquarters. “Not only are they hiring all our people, but they’re hiring them with their seniority in place, and with equal or better benefits. We wouldn’t do this if our people weren’t involved.”

The purchase price is estimated at $112 million, according to a news release posted on Core-Mark’s investor relations website.

Keith Canning, Gena Canning and Nick Alberding, owners of Pine State Trading Co., announced Monday they are selling their convenience store delivery division.

Keith Canning, now a managing partner of Pine State, and Alberding’s cousin, will be president of the new entity, Pine State Convenience, a Division of Core-Mark.

Alberding said the deal will likely close in 30 to 60 days, but for employees and retailers served by the company, it should be “business as usual” after the sale.

It will also be business as usual for Pine State’s remaining four divisions – Pine State Beverage based at Libby Hill Business Park in Gardiner, Pine State Spirits and Pine State Vending, based in warehouses on the Augusta-Hallowell city line, and Town & Country Foods, based in Greene, and those divisions’ 450 employees. Those divisions will remain in their current locations and Alberding will remain as CEO of Pine State Trading. Gena Canning will remain as a managing partner.

Alberding said he and other officials of Pine State, a family-owned business which this month celebrated its 75th year in business, decided to sell because they believed it would be best for the long-term success of the convenience store division.

He said they chose to sell to the 127-year-old Core-Mark because the firm’s officials believe in the same things they believe in and are expected to treat employees and customers well while ensuring the company has a vibrant future. He said Core-Mark was not strong in the Northeast market.

Pine State Convenience serves more than 4,000 convenience stores from Fort Kent to New York, including independent stores and chain stores such as Big Apple.

“Both our companies have experienced great success over the past decade largely due to our reputations in the marketplace with customers, employees and suppliers,” Tom Perkins, president and CEO of Core-Mark, said in a news release. “This deal affords us the opportunity to widen our geographic footprint in an area where we have a limited presence and offer Pine State customers a new spectrum of products and marketing programs that have brought our own retailers success.”

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