Kenan Transport, Chapel Hill, N.C., is being sold to Ohio-based Advantage Management Group to create the largest petroleum trucking company in the country.

Kenan and Advantage will be owned by a new company to be called The Kenan Advantage Group. It will probably be based in Canton, Ohio, where Advantage is currently based. The companies' fleets will continue to operate independently.
The transaction, for $85 million in cash, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, and will make Kenan a privately held company.
Kenan Transport is a 52-year-old company with a fleet of nearly 800 tractors and 1,000 tanker trailers, according to published reports. It operates primarily in the South and Southeast. Advantage is the parent company for four subsidiaries: Advantage Tank Lines, North Canton Transfer, Emery Transportation and McDaniel Transportation, with a combined fleet of more than 600 vehicles. Its stronghold of operations is the northern Midwest.
Following the merger, Lee P. Shaffer, Kenan's current President and CEO, will serve as the Chairman of Kenan Advantage Group. Dennis A. Nash, President and Chief Executive Officer of Advantage, will serve as the President and CEO.