Alimentation Couche-Tard Announces Intention to Sell 355 Sites Following Strategic Review of Network
LAVAL, QC – Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has announced an agreement to sell 49 sites in Oklahoma to Casey’s General Stores Inc. for $39 million in an all-cash transaction. The transaction includes 46 leased and three owned properties and is expected to close by July 31, 2021. Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. acted as financial advisor to Couche-Tard on the transaction.
In a separate but related initiative, the company has retained a real estate advisory firm specialized in the convenience and fuel industry to coordinate the sale of 306 sites across its North American network. The mandate includes 269 sites across 25 states in the United States and 37 sites across six provinces in Canada, with an average store size of approximately 2,600 square feet and an average lot size of 29,500 square feet. Of the 306 sites, 122 are fee-owned and 184 are leased, while 238 properties sell fuel and 68 are convenience only. Expressions of interest are due in early May.
Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Couche-Tard said: “The decision to divest select stores fits within the company’s network optimization strategy and follows a comprehensive and uniform network planning process that began in the fall of 2020. Through this process, we have identified sites that no longer fit our strategic objectives, either from a brand perspective or from a regional scale perspective. Concurrently, we have identified many opportunities to expand our footprint through new store builds and will continue to allocate capital to upgrade the size and scale of our locations, improve store layouts, and allow for the best utilization of our Fresh Food, Fast program as well as other initiatives which improve the customer journey.”
