Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is moving forward with a binding agreement to acquire 45 fuel and convenience-store retail sites from Big Red Stores in Arkansas.
The transaction includes company-owned, company-operated sites, for 44 of which the company owns the real estate; it leases the real estate of one site. This network features large-format stores that have ample space for enhanced foodservice and product offerings, Couche-Tard said.
“We are very pleased to add Big Red Stores’ high-quality locations to our footprint in the state of Arkansas. Doug and David built an exceptional network of stores and people, and we believe our values are congruent with the culture they’ve spent a quarter-century building. We are honored to be stewards of their legacy” said Alex Miller, Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard’s COO. “As we expand our presence in the area, we look forward to bringing the Circle K experience to new customers and making their lives a little easier every day.”
The companies expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2023, subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Couche-Tard will finance the be financed using available cash and existing credit facilities.
- Alimentation Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of convenience store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2023 Top 202 in June.
Summerwood Partners LLC, Bryant, Arkansas, operates Big Red convenience stores and Family Market grocery stores in central Arkansas. The company is No. 153 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains.
Raymond James & Associates Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida, served as investment banking advisor to Summerwood Partners, doing business as Big Red Stores.
Couche-Tard’s 24-country network includes more than 7,100 in the United States, primarily under the Circle K and Holiday Stationstores banners, and approximately 2,100 in Canada under the Circle K, Mac’s and Couche-Tard banners. In Europe, under the Circle K and other banners, Couche-Tard operates a retail network in Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia with more than 2,700 stores and unmanned automated fuel stations. And under licensing agreements, more than 2,200 stores operate under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam). This brings Couche-Tard’s total worldwide network to approximately 14,300 mostly Circle K-branded stores.
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