Ozark Gas & Appliance Co. has been sold to Titan Propane LLC, a division of Montana-based Heritage Propane.
Owner George Bush sold the 65-year-old Springfield-based company, 536 N. Fremont Ave., to Titan for an undisclosed amount in a transaction that closed Oct. 1, said Titan Regional Vice President Michael T. Jinks.
Bush said his father, also named George, started the business as a propane gas distributor and added Amana heating and air conditioning services about 30 years ago to boost business in slower summer months. When the elder Bush died a couple of years ago, his son took over the company before deciding to retire earlier this year.
Starting in May, Bush, 63, said he began soliciting competitors about acquiring Ozark Gas and, by July, he had accepted Titan's offer.
"I looked for somebody that would treat our customers well and our employees well and was very professional," Bush said, noting that new owner retained all 13 employees at the Fremont location. "They needed to expand, and we pretty much doubled their size."
Jinks said Ozark Gas fits perfectly into Titan's tri-state coverage area and will serve as the Springfield hub for 30 satellite outlets in the surrounding area. He said Titan has 17 primary stores in southwest Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
With the acquisition of Ozark Gas, Titan now has 165 employees in the tri-state area and close to 5,000 customers - mainly residential - in and around Springfield, Jinks said. Both Bush and Jinks said very little has changed now that Ozark Gas is under new ownership.
"We had a lot of loyal customers that we took care of for years and years and years, and I intend for that to continue," Bush said. "The only change is that I'm not there."
Heritage is the propane operating subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP), a publicly traded master limited partnership. According to its Web site, www.heritagepropane.com, the company distributes propane through a nationwide retail distribution network that serves more than 700,000 customers through nearly 450 locations in 34 states.[[In-content Ad]]
