A convenience store industry publication reported that Belleville-based Dickerson Petroleum Inc. sold 29 convenience stores to a Canadian company.

According to the CSP Daily News in Oak Brook, Ill., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. in Laval, Quebec, signed a deal to purchase the stores from Dickerson Petroleum. These stores have operated under the Gas Mart name and sold Phillips 66 gasoline. Twenty-five of the stores are in the metro-east and Southern Illinois, three are in St. Louis County and one is in Oklahoma.

Tuesday, a receptionist at Dickerson Petroleum's headquarters in Belleville said that owner Steve Dickerson declined to comment.

Bruce Landini, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. vice president of operations for the Midwest, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The names of the 29 Gas Mart stores will be changed to Circle K. The transaction is expected to be final by the end of the month, according to the CSP Daily News report.

Further details about the transaction were not available Tuesday.

Dickerson Petroleum was founded in 1971 by Dickerson's father, Tom Dickerson. Tom Dickerson had worked for Phillips Petroleum Co. for 15 years prior to establishing the business. He died in 2001.

Alimentation Couche-Tard is an international company and the largest independent convenience store operator in North America with 6,172 stores, of which more than 4,590 sell fuel.

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526.

Contact reporter Will Buss at wbuss@bnd.com or 239-2526.