Five Star acquires Tennessee and Kentucky operations from Premium Solutions

Five Star Breaktime Solutions has acquired the micro market, vending, office coffee, and water service operations in the Nashville and Bowling Green markets from Premium Solutions, Birmingham, Ala.

The acquisition is the second for Five Star in as many weeks. The acquisition adds density to Five Star’s customer base in the region, but it does not change the company’s service area geographically, explained C.J. Recher, vice president of marketing at Five Star Breaktime Services, in an interview with Automatic Merchandiser.

“These being close together feels a bit coincidental,” Recher said. “When a smart opportunity arises, you act on it. With Pat’s leadership, we stay active in discussions with operators considering an exit. Sometimes deals get clustered together if we get some momentum.”

“I believe one important factor that tends to get overlooked is the amicable working relationships we have with the majority of our competitors. This has helped keep the pipeline channels open and, as C.J. mentions, sometimes these opportunities get bunched together. Sometimes this is a result of seller needs, and sometimes a result of Five Star ensuring that the proper resources are made available for a smooth transition,” said Pat Barger, director of mergers and acquisitions at Five Star, in an interview with Automatic Merchandiser.

NAMA perspective

The acquisition comes just a week after the NAMA Show, the annual showcase for the convenience services industry. Recher offered his perspective on the future of breakroom and unattended retail evolving in the next few years, and how it might influence Five Star Breaktime Solutions:

“Automation and AI will certainly play a big role. While already quite seamless, we expect the consumer (employee) experience to progress even further. Consumers are more connected than ever before, with expectations of personalized convenience everywhere. Based on evidence from adjacent channels (QSR, meal delivery and convenience stores), many consumers are willing to pay for that experience,” Recher said.

“Consumers want to be able to do or buy everything from their smart device (phone or tablet), at any time. The tools exist to create this experience, but the challenge for operators in our channel becomes how to implement and scale profitably for long-term success. While we are launching a mobile app and rewards program for our markets next month, it goes beyond that. We continue to do a fair bit of research, learning, testing and development of our strategic approach to this opportunity to reshape the breaktime experience,” he added.

Steve Moseley, the founder of Premium Solutions, will continue to operate all services in its remaining geographic service areas. Moseley has more than 25 years of experience in the vending and office coffee industry. Over the last decade, he grew Premium Solutions to serve Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, providing micro market, vending, office coffee, POU water, and bottled water services. Among its most recent service additions is an in-house coffee roasting service, which Moseley will continue to operate.

The sale allows Moseley to reduce his company’s footprint. At the same time, the acquisition allows Five Star to expand its Middle Tennessee and South-Central Kentucky presence, a strategic objective of the company.

“This arrangement allows Steve to reduce his service footprint, which in turn reduces his overall workload and provides more time to focus on his remaining customers,” Barger said. “This deal fits well into our existing footprint. As a result, we are not initially hiring any Premium Solution employees.”

"We’re excited to welcome the team and customers from Premium Solutions to Five Star,” said Barger in a release announcing the acquisition. “Steve has built a high quality operation, and we’re proud to build upon that foundation to serve even more clients in the region.”

Five Star is the largest franchise of Canteen, a Compass Group company.