Mid Pac Petroleum LLC, a Hawai'i-based petroleum marketer and the licensee of the Union 76 brand, is being purchased by an investment firm that includes retired banker Walter Dods.

Koko'oha Investments Inc. will buy Mid Pac Petroleum from Singapore investment firm K1 Ventures Ltd. for $44 million. The sale is expected to close Sept. 1.

In addition to Dods, Koko'oha Investments includes David Hulihee, Bill Mills and Jim Yates. Hulihee is president of Royal Contracting Ltd. and Mills is the founder and chairman of the Mills Group real estate investment company.

Yates will serve as the new president and chief executive of Mid Pac Petroleum, replacing Richard Parry, who left the company at the end of July. Yates last week resigned as head of The Gas Co., where he had served as president and CEO since 1995.

Mid Pac Petroleum has annual sales of $170 million and Dods said customers and employees should notice very few changes once the acquisition is completed.

"Mid Pac Petroleum has already proven itself as a strong company doing business in Hawai'i, thanks to its employees, dealers, marketers and commercial customers," Dods said. "As a stock transaction, this will be a smooth and virtually transparent transition for our customers and employees," he said.

The purchase will give Koko'oha Investments exclusive rights to use the Union 76 brand for fuel sales in Hawai'i and contracts to supply third-party dealers, marketers and commercial customers. Of the 51 Union 76-branded stations in Hawai'i, 36 are owned by Mid Pac Petroleum and the remainder are independent operators that the company supplies fuel to.