With a slick move, he buys a competitor twice his size.

• Author: Roush, Chris
• Position: People

Irvin Warren prides himself on being ready when opportunities present themselves. But his latest deal as chief executive of Dunnbased Warren Oil Co.--the $34 million acquisition of Coastal Unilube from El Paso Corp.--was one most executives don't get to make: He bought his chief competitor. In fact, Coastal's $213 million in 2003 revenue was more than twice Warren's $90 million.

Both companies sell motor oil and lubricants. But Warren's primary customers were mass merchandisers such as Food Lion and Kmart, while Coastal's were auto-specialty stores such as NAPA, AutoZone and Advance Auto. The sale happened because Houstonbased El Paso needed cash.

Warren, 61, grew up on a tobacco farm in Sampson County. After getting a bachelor's in industrial education in 1964 from East Carolina, he taught mechanical drawing at Enloe High School in Raleigh and then at N.C. State for six years while earning a master's in education there.

An uncle kept pestering Warren to work for his Auto Parts and Tires Warehouse in Dunn. Warren loved teaching but decided in 1970 to try his hand at business. He expanded the company, which distributed motor oil, batteries and other parts to country stores around Eastern North Carolina, to other retailers, including Kmart, and to gas stations. By 1974, Warren and his uncle persuaded Exxon to produce an oil for them that they began packaging and selling as Warren Motor...