Alimentation Couche-Tard is about to complete the biggest acquisition in its history: the wall street journal reported that the Quebec company had been in talks for several weeks with British retailer EG Group.
According to the American daily, the two chains are in talks to merge their assets, which include a BP gas station, roadside Starbucks cafe, Circle K and Couche-Tard convenience store, Cumberland Farms grocery store and more.
These discussions could triple the number of businesses operated by the Quebec company, which already operates 7,000 businesses in Canada, the United States and elsewhere abroad.
Talks so far have failed to lead to an agreement – and they may not succeed, says Wall Street Journal. But if the two companies unite, the new group’s turnover will increase to 70 billion US dollars thanks to the operation of approximately 21,000 gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores and other fast food outlets.
The joint company-which will remain at its headquarters in Laval, according to the daily – combine the EG Group’s network in the UK, Western Europe and Australia with the Couche-Tard network in the US, Canada, Northern Europe and several other countries.
Strict negotiations
The proposals exchanged in recent weeks would cost the British retailer around US $ 16 billion or more, including debt, according to sources cited by wall street journal.
The value of Couche-Tard is estimated at approximately $ 50 billion.
The two companies are engaged in tight negotiations, according to New York daily sources. Their leaders, he said, have been hot and cold in recent weeks.
Competitors to meet
Couche-Tard was created in 1980, when Alain Bouchard, who remains president, opened a first convenience store in Quebec.
The company then acquired several Canadian convenience store chains in the 1990s before launching attacks in the United States and Europe, beginning in 2001. It notably bought Pantry Inc., owner of Kangaroo Express stores, in 2015.
The retailer also acquired Statoil Fuel & Retail’s convenience stores and gas stations in Europe in 2012. At the time, it was the largest acquisition in the company’s history, at 2.8 billion US dollars.
But Couche-Tard has also experienced setbacks. In 2010, for example, its unsolicited acquisition bid for Casey’s Retail Co. was rejected.
In 2020, the Quebec company also bit the dust by wanting to acquire the Speedway chain of convenience stores, opting for a more profitable offer submitted by a Japanese conglomerate.
And last year, the French government canceled its nearly C $ 25 billion deal with grocer Carrefour SA.
EG Group, in part, is controlled by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa – billionaires – as well as private equity firm TDR Capital.
The business, originally called “Euro Garages”, was founded in 2001. It merged with a Dutch convenience store chain owned by TDR in 2016 and continued to expand by buying into US chain operations in the UK. . Kroger supermarket and Esso’s Italian gas station.
In 2019, it also acquired Cumberland Farms grocery stores – which Couche -Tard also saw.
Always according to Wall Street JournalEG Group is also participating in an auction to acquire British pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. The company could get a price tag of approximately 10 billion US dollars.
Source: Radio-Canada
