As reported in a CSP Daily News Flash Friday, the all-cash transaction is expected to be completed by the close of the company's fiscal year ending Sept. 27, 2009. "We should have the transaction completed for [the remaining six] sites by the end of the fiscal year, as well," company spokesperson Brian Luscomb told CSP [image-nocss] Daily News.
Luscomb said the 55 stores under purchase agreement will be sold to a single buyer, but he would not divulge who was buying the sites, noting, "We wanted to disclose the general terms of the agreement now, and we'll follow with details after the transaction closes."
He also would not say exactly where the 55 stores are located other than, "Most of the stores are in California and Texas. That's simply because most of our Quick Stuff locations are in California and Texas. We're in seven states total, but 46 of the 61 are in those two states."
The Quick Stuff locations are each built adjacent to a full-size Jack in the Box restaurant, and each includes a major-brand fuel station, with brands such as Chevron, Shell, Arco, ExxonMobil, Texaco and CITGO. Sites are located in California, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Idaho, Washington and Illinois.
The units are about 2,000 square feet in size and are open 24 hours a day. The restaurant is connected to the Quick Stuff store by a common area that includes restroom facilities. They feature ATMs and fuel islands with four-to-six dispensers and pay-at-the-pump credit-card readers. Some locations also offer car washes.
The San Diego-based company does not intend to sell any of the Jack in the Box restaurants adjoining the Quick Stuff locations in connection with these transactions.
"The board and management of Jack in the Box agreed that by selling Quick Stuff, we can focus on maximizing the potential of our Jack in the Box and Qdoba brands," chairman and CEO Linda Lang said in a press release. "We appreciate the dedication of all of our Quick Stuff employees, and will look to them to assist in a smooth transition during this process."
Luscomb said the c-stores were "looked at as a growth vehicle for us. It just did not work out for us."
Disposition of the company's 61 Quick Stuff stores is expected to result in a charge, net of taxes, of approximately $10 to $14 million, which will be recorded in discontinued operations in the company's fiscal third quarter 2009 results.
Ray Cleeman, president of SMJ Capital Advisors LLC, served as exclusive financial advisor to Jack in the Box in connection with the sale of Quick Stuff.
Jack in the Box is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box restaurants, with more than 2,180 restaurants in 18 states. Additionally, through a wholly owned subsidiary, the company operates and franchises Qdoba Mexican Grill, a fast-casual dining chain with more than 480 restaurants in 42 states and the District of Columbia. The company had previously announced plans to sell its Quick Stuff chain of 61 convenience stores, each built adjacent to a full-size Jack in the Box restaurant and including a major-brand fuel station.
Click herefor previous CSP Daily News coverage.
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