Couche-Tard Closes on CST Brands, CrossAmerica

LAVAL, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. on June 28 officially closed on its acquisitions of CST Brands Inc. and CrossAmerica Partners and its related transaction with Parkland Fuel Corp..

In August 2016, Couche-Tard said it would acquire CST Brands for approximately $4.4 billion. As a result of the CST deal, Couche-Tard acquired related wholesale distributor CrossAmerica GP LLC, the general partner of CrossAmerica Partners LP.

Couche-Tard also finalized a deal with Parkland Fuel, Red Deer, Alberta, to sell certain CST Canadian assets for approximately $750 million to head off competitive issues. Both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Canada's Competition Bureau approved the deals.

These transactions have prompted the departures of two top executives from CST Brands—Kim Lubel, president and CEO, and Hal Adams, president of retail—and a change at the top of CrossAmerica, with Alex Miller, Couche-Tard’s senior vice president of global fuels, becoming chairman of CrossAmerica, succeeding Lubel.

Here are more details of the deals and the executive changes …

“It is a great day for our investors, our employees and, above all, for our customers,” said Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Couche-Tard, about the closing of the deals. “CST is the fourth-largest network of convenience stores and fuel retailing in North America. This transaction is the biggest in Couche-Tard’s history and will strengthen our footprint in the United States, especially in Texas and the Southeast region, as well as in Canada.”

With these deals, Couche-Tard has added significantly to its convenience-store network in the United States and Canada, with nearly 1,300 stores, including 666 locations in Texas, for a total of approximately 9,500 stores in North America, including 7,567 stores with fuel dispensing, and close to 14,000 worldwide. Its North American network consists of 16 business units, including 12 in the United States covering 42 states and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces. It employs approximately 94,000 people.

“In CST, we acquire a company with strategic value that will efficiently complement our network,” Hannasch said. “We bring in great new locations as well as expertise and experience, which are likely to allow us to venture into new opportunities. Furthermore, we are proud to welcome aboard 14,000 new employees who will all become part of our journey to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and fuel.”

On the day the deal closed, Lubel, president and CEO of CST, left the convenience-store retailer, Couche-Tard told CSP Daily News.

“It’s been a long process, but we are nearly at the finish line with the expected closing later this week,” Lubel said in a statement provided by Couche-Tard ahead of the closing. “Closing day will be my last day with CST, and the CST team with whom I’ve been so privileged to work for the past five years. While bittersweet for me, I have been blessed to work with an incredible team. We have accomplished so much and had a lot of fun along the way.”

In a tweet, she said, “Today I say goodbye to the great CST team members that make CST strong. How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard!”

Lubel, above, joined CST Brands in January 2013 after more than 15 years with Valero Energy Corp., where she was executive vice president and general counsel. San Antonio-based Valero spun off CST in May 2013.

In October 2014, Lubel was elected chairman of CrossAmerica GP LLC, the general partner of CrossAmerica Partners LP.

In 2015, Fortune magazine named her among the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.

Adams, president of retail, is also leaving CST Brands.

“Today I say farewell to the Corner Store team. My heart is filled with gratitude and pride to have served with you—you are the brand!”, he said in a tweet.

“My time with CST was phenomenal,” Adams told CSP Daily News. “Kim Lubel is an amazing leader, and we had a tremendous leadership team. I am happy that we are leaving our company to the talented team of Circle K. I will be taking some time to enjoy family and friends this summer and then begin working on future plans. I have had the great fortune of working in the convenience industry for 35 years. It’s been great.”

Adams, above left, became CST Brands' president of retail operations in January 2016. His position included oversight of marketing and merchandising with operations, including retail fuel pricing, branding and communications in the United States and Canada. He has more than 30 years of retail experience, having served as the vice president of retail merchandising for Valero from January 2001 until he became senior vice president and chief marketing officer of CST in January 2013.

He began his career as a store associate in a Stop N Go c-store in Ventura, Calif. He held the positions of store manager, district representative, regional merchandiser and has held several leadership positions in the retail operation network.

CST Brands, San Antonio, operated more than 2,000 c-stores throughout the southwestern United States, Georgia, Florida, New York and eastern Canada.

Meanwhile, Miller, Couche-Tard’s senior vice president of global fuels, becomes chairman of CrossAmerica with the closing of the acquisition of CST Brands.

Miller (pictured) was appointed senior vice president of global fuels in February 2016. Previously, he was vice president of North American fuels since October 2012. He joined Couche-Tard in January 2012 as director of operations for the Midwest.

Prior to joining Couche-Tard, Miller was employed by Amoco Oil Corp. and BP PLC from August 1995 to November 2011, in various roles of increasing responsibility, both in Europe and the United States across retail operations, fuel supply and pricing, strategy and business development and planning and performance management. His last role with BP was head of strategy and business development for the United States east of Rockies downstream fuel value chain.

Allentown, Pa.-based CrossAmerica distributes motor fuels and owns and leases real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels to approximately 1,200 locations. It owns or leases approximately 900 sites, with a geographic footprint covering 29 states.