LAVAL, Quebec — Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ACT) has entered an unsolicited bid of $5.8 billion to purchase convenience-store retailer Caltex Australia Ltd.
Caltex is Australia's leading transportation fuel supplier, according to the company, with a network of approximately 1,900 company-owned or -affiliated sites, including more than 500 Star Mart-brand locations.
Couche-Tard's $34.50-per-share bid is for 100% of Caltex Australia, reflecting an enterprise value for Caltex of approximately $10 billion in Australian dollars, or $5.8 billion U.S.
“We believe this is a very compelling offer for Caltex shareholders, representing an excellent premium and certainty of value today," Couche-Tard President and CEO Brian Hannasch said in a statement. "ACT’s management team has been looking into the Asia-Pacific region for several years as a potential market for our continued growth, and we see many opportunities. With Caltex, we see a potential opportunity to leverage our leading global position in the convenience-retail market, and we would seek to bring all our operating expertise to bear to help support and grow the Caltex business."
The offer is in the hands of the board of directors of Caltex to review and is subject to due diligence and customary terms and conditions, including approval by Couche-Tard's board of directors.
- Couche-Tard is No. 2 in CSP's 2019 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
Couche-Tard, Laval, Quebec, is the leader in the Canadian convenience-store industry. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience-store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and in Ireland, and has an important presence in Poland.
As of July 21, 2019, Couche-Tard’s network comprised 9,792 convenience stores in North America. Its North American network consists of 19 business units, including 15 in the United States covering 48 states and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces.
In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia through 10 business units with 2,706 stores.
In addition, under licensing agreements, approximately 2,250 stores are operated under the Circle K banner in 16 other countries and territories (Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guam, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings the worldwide total network to more than 16,000 stores, according to Couche-Tard.
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.