Panthers Petroleum is enjoying a remarkable period of growth. Since launching in early 2024, this Houston-based startup has been on an aggressive acquisition path, securing gas station and convenience store properties throughout the city. In just one year, it has impressively reached a total of 23 stores.
CEO Chaudhry Ayaz brings deep experience gained over 15 years of running operations and stores in the gas and c-store industry. “Gas stations seem like a straightforward business, but there are lots of complexities. I have both the industry relationships and operational know-how,” remarked Ayaz.
“Our growth strategy is simple: we acquire existing gas/c-stores, take over the operations, and sign a long-term lease. Then we sell the real estate and roll the sale proceeds into the next acquisition. Once I obtained the capital to run acquisitions, it just snowballed,” he laughed. “Scaling from no staff to three field personnel and a back office of ten people and counting… It’s gotten very serious.”
“Ayaz and I did not know each other until fairly recently,” commented Joshua Berger, Managing Partner at Century Partners Real Estate, who represents Ayaz in his real estate transactions and capital sourcing. “After getting to know him, I quickly learned that the meeting of our two minds would lead to something special. He is now one of my closest friends,” Berger added. “He’s an upstanding businessman with an insane work ethic. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with him. But he had all the knowledge and just needed the capital infusion and real estate advisory to get the business ramped up.”
Panthers Petroleum will continue expanding through a programmatic sale-leaseback strategy and plans to diversify the portfolio throughout Houston with additional gas station / c-store properties.
“I’m very connected with the local community. Most of my opportunities have come through my personal network,” said Ayaz. “People know I follow through on my promises. When you start out, your reputation is all you have, and with the right relationships, resources and attitude you can do it.”
“There are a lot of newcomers and ‘dreamers’ in this space,” smiled Ayaz. “And to them, I say, keep dreaming! Panthers is proof you can make it happen if you have skills and motivation.”
Century Partners works directly with operators and franchisees nationwide, helping them open new stores and expand through sale-leaseback, build-to-suit and private capital.
