Atlantic Aviation Names 7-Eleven Lawyer as General Counsel

Atlantic Aviation, which provides services such as fueling, baggage and catering at airports, has named former 7-Eleven Inc. lawyer Dawud Crooms as general counsel.

Crooms, who began his legal career as a merger and acquisitions lawyer at Dallas-based law firm Haynes and Boone, will aid Atlantic in matters such as regulatory compliance, corporate governance and contract management.

“Dawud brings deep experience with legal issues and transactions,” Louis Pepper, Atlantic’s chief executive officer, said in a statement, adding that Crooms “is a very good fit with our culture.”

Buyout firm KKR & Co. purchased Plano, Texas-based Atlantic from Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. last year for an estimated $4.5 billion in cash, assumed debt and restructuring obligations. Atlantic and Ross Aviation in November announced a plan to combine in a deal they said they expected to close in the first half of this year.

Crooms last year led 7-Eleven’s $21 billion acquisition of retail competitor Speedway‘s more than 3,000 stores. Earlier, Crooms worked on other 7-Eleven deals, including a 2018 assets transaction, valued at $3.3 billion, for Sunoco, which added 1,030 stores. At the time, it was 7-Eleven’s largest acquisition.

“I am excited to join the Atlantic Aviation family during this pivotal time,” Crooms said in a statement, “and to help support the growth of the one the premier, leading networks of fixed-base operators in North America.”