Waltham-based Global Partners takes to the Statehouse, petitions for transparency in state highway service plaza contract

A sea of blue shirts filled the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse yesterday morning, as more than 250 people voiced support for Global Partners, a Waltham-based Fortune 500 company that was passed over for a long-term contract with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to rebuild, refurbish and operate 18 highway service plazas across the commonwealth.

“Gov. Healey said that MassDOT Secretary [Monica] Tibbits-Nutt prioritized transparency and communication,” Global Partners CEO Eric Slifka said at the July 29 Statehouse rally. “Today we’re here to ask the administration to live up to that promise, because transparency is exactly what’s missing.”

The demonstration came hours after Global Partners submitted a petition with more than 2,000 signatures to the Massachusetts Legislature asking for greater transparency in MassDOT’s process and decision to award a 35-year contract to Applegreen, an Ireland-based company that runs hundreds of service plazas across the United States. 

Global Partners also filed a formal complaint with the State Ethics Commission on Friday, citing concerns over the conduct of Scott Bosworth, an MBTA official who oversaw MassDOT’s request for proposal (RFP) process.

In the petition, Global Partners asked for MassDOT to “release a complete, side-by-side comparison of the Applegreen and Global bids, including all financial assumptions and scoring criteria” and address changes made by the department late in the RFP process, among other requests. 

In the complaint to the Ethics Commission, Global Partners raised concerns over Bosworth’s potential conflict of interest and alleged improper influence. 

Applegreen firmly denies any wrongdoing.

“Applegreen strongly rejects the unfounded allegations being made by the disgruntled loser of the public procurement process for the Massachusetts Highway Service Plaza revitalization,” Bob Etchingham, founder and CEO of Applegreen, said in a statement to The Waltham Times on Monday. “Our proposal was stronger, more creative, more sustainable and more aligned with the Commonwealth’s vision for the future.”

Global Partners maintains that its proposal would be better for local businesses and that it included $900 million more to Massachusetts in guaranteed rent; it promised $1.5 billion to Applegreen’s $600 million. Applegreen, on the other hand, has cited the benefits of its proposal’s $750 million in capital investment, where Global Partners offered $650 million.

Following a Freedom of Information Act request to review Applegreen’s complete proposal, Global Partners said it learned that Applegreen has not procured the $750 million in capital investment.

“They actually do not have the financing at hand to do this project,” said Max Slifka, senior vice president of real estate at Global Partners. “According to their own proposal, they’re going to begin negotiating term sheets with potential lenders in November.”

Applegreen insists that financing the project will not be an issue.

“As is typical for a project of this nature, construction financing is finalized after the contract has been awarded,” Etchingham said. “Now that the contract is awarded, we will have financing in place to commence construction in early 2026.”

Additionally, Global Partners is looking for answers as to why MassDOT made changes late in the RFP process “that appeared to favor one bidder.”

When asked what these late changes were, Slifka first pointed to the removal of a requirement of a parental guarantee, a contractual agreement in which a parent company (in Applegreen’s case, private equity firm Blackstone) would guarantee the financial obligations of its subsidiary.

“What was the benefit the commonwealth received for that?” Slifka asked.

Slifka also claimed that MassDOT lowered the amount of insurance required in each proposal just weeks before the deadline to submit.

Etchingham pushed back on these points.

“Applegreen complied with all requirements of the RFP as it relates to guarantees and insurance,” said Etchingham. “Those requirements were consistent with industry standards for a contract of this nature and provide all appropriate protections to the Commonwealth.”

Regarding Bosworth’s conduct in the RFP process and Global Partners’ complaint to the State Ethic Commission, the company said in a Friday press release that Bosworth “engaged in discussions regarding employment opportunities with Blackstone Infrastructure Partners” and that he may have improperly influenced the outcome of MassDOT’s decision.

Paula Chirhart, a Blackstone spokesperson, refuted those assertions.

“There is absolutely no truth to the allegations made in this complaint,” Chirhart said. “There were no discussions about potential employment with Blackstone, any of its funds or its portfolio companies with any MassDOT official at any point.”

Global Partners hopes that both its petition and formal complaint will prompt an oversight hearing from the Legislature’s Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight as well as the House and Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee.

Applegreen remains focused on their upcoming rebuilds and renovations for the 18 highway service plazas across Massachusetts. It announced that it will partner with Suffolk Construction to deliver more than 750 local union construction jobs as well as Rachael’s Food Corp., a Chicopee, Massachusetts-based company that will be the leading provider of sandwiches at the service plazas.

Applegreen’s lease and concession agreement for all 18 service plazas becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2026.