PENSACOLA, Fla. -- As another midsized retailer chose to exit the convenience store industry, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. was there this week to add 13 stores to its Florida and Gulf Coast Division of Circle K.
The Laval, Quebec-based c-store giant signed, through its subsidiary Circle K Stores Inc., an agreement to purchase the 13 Groovin' Noovin stores in the Pensacola, Fla., market from Richcor Inc., based in Pensacola. Richcor officials had no comment on the issue as of presstime yesterday.
The 13 c-stores are all company [image-nocss] operated and have Shell-branded gasoline. Couche-Tard will buy the land and buildings for all 13 locations.
The stores will be converted to the Circle K banner, and the gasoline brand will remain intact, further growing Couche-Tard's relationship with Shell Oil Products US, which has found Couche-Tard to be an amenable partner in several of its recent property selloffs across the country.
In addition, 10 of the stores have quick-service restaurants (QSRs), of which nine have a proprietary deli doing business as Down Home Deli, and one is a branded Subway location operated under a franchise agreement.
Should the transaction close as expected in February 2007, these assets would add to Couche-Tard's revenues and contribute to its earnings on an annualized basis. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Richcor's total sales for 2005 were about $50 million. An estimated 65% of that comes from gasoline sales. According to a confidentiality agreement between the parties, the purchase price could not be disclosed. Internal available cash dollars will pay for the transaction.
"Subsequent to this transaction, our network in the Florida and Gulf Division would include a total of 669 company operated stores and 64 dealer locations, said Mick Parker, vice president of operations for Couch-Tard's Florida-Gulf Division. These stores are located on highly visible and well-traveled roads and occupy strategic locations within their respective trade area. Strategically, these acquisitions would be an excellent fit with our current network in Pensacola, Fla., and would complement our expansion and growth plans in the Florida-Gulf region."
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In North America, Couche-Tard is the third largest c-store operator and the second largest independent (not integrated with a petroleum company) c-store operator. Couche-Tard currently operates a network of 5,204 c-stores, 3,235 of which include motor fuel dispensing, located in nine large geographic markets, including three in Canada and six, which cover 28 states in the United States.
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