Marathon Petroleum Corp. decided to extend the completion of the spinoff of its retail business Speedway LLC as Speedway Inc. to early 2021 from the previously planned fourth quarter of 2020.

The announcement came after Marathon Petroleum said the transaction's completion could be delayed due to the impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic on the market, according to a June 15 SEC filing. The transaction is still subject to the final approval of Marathon Petroleum's board of directors and the satisfaction or waiver of other conditions.

The refiner announced its initial plan to separate its gas station and convenience store chain unit Speedway into an independent company in October 2019. Speedway has approximately 4,000 fueling stations.

In February, Japanese convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. was reportedly in exclusive talks to buy Speedway from Marathon Petroleum in a deal that could have been worth about $22 billion, but Seven & i abandoned its plans to acquire the retail business at a March 5 board meeting.

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