ANKENY, Iowa -- It would be going overboard to say Casey's General Stores Inc.has $50 million burning a hole in its collective pocket, but CFO Bill Walljasper confirmed on the company's latest earnings conference call that it does expect half of the $100 million in funding it secured last year to arrive this month.
Part of that was used for the HandiMart acquisition, he said, referring to the company's most recent acquisition, announced last summer. The delayed drawdown of $50 million will be taken in March. We anticipate utilizing that $50 million for [image-nocss] future acquisition activity.
Walljasper said the Ankeny, Iowa-based chain, now with 1,444 corporate stores and 18 franchised sites, is optimistic about continuing or accelerating our pace of acquisitions.
When opportunities present themselves, we have no problem leveraging up the [debt ratio on our] balance sheet to take advantage of those opportunities, he said. We have the appetite, and when the opportunities present themselves, we're going to take advantage of that balance sheet.
The HandiMart acquisition from Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Nordstrom Oil Co., netted Casey's 33 new convenience stores and added some quick-service restaurant to the company's operations, something new for Casey's.
Walljasper said he's hopeful Casey's can find acquisition opportunities of similar scale in the near future. We believe the acquisition environment is very favorable. It's a fragmented market, and there is consolidation in the industry, he said. Hopefully we can find a few more HandiMart-type acquisitions out there as we move forward.
The HandiMart stores, for which the sale was completed in October, are now entering a slow transition to the Casey's General Store name.
Right now we're in the process of taking down the pylon signs to put up the Casey's General Store signs, Walljasper said. There still will be HandiMart signs on the store. Hopefully, this summer, we'll begin to put in the [Casey's] Kitchens in addition to the quick-serve restaurants that they have in some of their locations. At that time, I think you'll see the signage from the stores come down, but we're in no hurry. HandiMart is a very well-run company with good brand-name recognition.
In the first nine months of Casey's fiscal 2007, which ended January 31, Casey's has built eight new stores, closed on 47 acquisitions, and has written agreements for another eight.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.