Quebec giant Alimentation Couche-Tard is reportedly looking to sell part of its Circle K service station network for $ 4 billion.
According to New York Post, the chain would like to divest more or less 1,250 sites in the United States in order to allow the acquisition of Speedway service stations from Marathon Petroleum. Couche-Tard would thus seek to allay fears with regard to antitrust issues.
In June, the Wall Street Journal claimed that Couche-Tard was in the race to grapple with establishments of the Speedway brand, which has nearly 4,000 points of sale in the United States.
The company did not want to confirm this information at the time. Journal. Thursday, the management of Couche-Tard also preferred to limit its remarks concerning the sale of part of its Circle K division.
“We do not discuss our acquisition processes, whether we have ongoing activities or not. So I cannot confirm this information, ”said spokesperson Laurence Myre Leroux in an email.
At the start of the year, Marathon Petroleum also had exchanges with the company Seven & I – the parent company of 7-Eleven in Japan – to sell its subsidiary Speedway. The transaction of approximately $ 22 billion, however, would have fallen through due to the pandemic.
Couche-Tard has nearly 8,000 Circle K stores with our neighbors to the south, according to the New York Post. Of this number, approximately 5,900 have service stations. The 1,250 points of sale targeted by the transaction would be located near Speedway establishments.
In 2003, the Laval convenience store chain had spent $ 1.12 billion to swallow the Circle K brand, which then owned more than 2,200 stores including franchisees.
Recall that due to the pandemic, Couche-Tard recently put on hold its transaction to swallow Caltex Australia.
The company, which wants to double its size and reach a turnover of $ 100 billion by 2023, had made an offer of CA $ 7.9 billion to acquire the company with 2,000 service stations and 6,630 employees.
In addition, earlier this week, Couche-Tard and its former partner CrossAmerica Partners LP agreed to pay a fine of US $ 3.5 million to the Federal Trade Commission for not having sold 10 service stations as required by l organization following the 2017 acquisition of the assets of Holiday Companies in the United States.
Couche-Tard has more than 14,800 stores worldwide, including nearly 9,800 in North America.
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