Article: Exxon Mobil agrees to sell gas stations: Owners hope deal will let them buy land from Tosco.(Business)

Dick Arnold may no longer have to pay rent.

Mr. Arnold owns Belair Mobil gas station in Bowie, but leases the land it sits on and the building it's in because Mobil owns the property.

The new Exxon Mobil Corp. said yesterday it has an agreement to sell 1,740 gas stations to Connecticut-based Tosco Corp. for $860 million, a move that means dealers like Mr. Arnold may be able to stop leasing the corporately owned land and buy it from the new owner.

"You can equate it to renting a house. The landlord can raise the rent or sell it. There are a lot of unknowns," said Mr. Arnold, who started Belair Mobil in 1982.

Mr. Arnold and ...

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