Couche-Tard signs deal for up to 322 sites plus right to supply an additional 65 Mobil branded locations in Southern California
ATD.A, ATD.B / TSX
LAVAL, QC, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ("Couche-Tard") announces today that it has signed, through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Circle K Stores Inc. ("Circle K"), an agreement to acquire up to 322 sites plus an additional 65 reseller contracts in Southern California from ExxonMobil. The transaction is anticipated to close in stages between the fourth quarter of the 2011 calendar year and the second quarter of 2012. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. According to a confidentiality agreement between the parties the purchase price cannot be disclosed at this time. Internal available cash dollars and the bank facilities would be used for the transaction.
Of these 322 sites, 72 are company-operated and 250 are dealer-operated. Circle K would own the real estate for up to 202 of the total number of sites. In compliance with California law, ExxonMobil will be presenting a ''bona fide'' offer to the 165 fee property dealers. Should any of those properties be purchased by the dealer, the branded supply agreement would still be assigned to Circle K. The balance of the sites would be leased. All of the stores are currently selling fuel under the Mobil brand. The transaction includes the assignment of the supply and branding contracts for Mobil branded motor fuel for 65 reseller locations. All of the 387 locations would continue to offer Mobil branded motor fuel allowing customers to continue using the ExxonMobil credit card. The company-operated sites would be operated under the Circle K brand and the entire network would be part of Couche-Tard's West Coast Division network. The dealer-operated locations would continue to be operated by current dealers.
"Subsequent to this transaction, our network in the Circle K West Coast Division would include a total of 228 company-operated, and 315 dealer or reseller-operated. These stores are high volume, high impact locations. They would significantly strengthen our overall footprint in this important market. Under our Worldwide Franchise Division we already have an additional 315 Circle K branded sites on the West Coast. We are extremely excited about the addition of these stores, employees, and dealers to our family" commented Tim Tourek, Vice-President Operations, West Coast Division.
Couche-Tard also announces some other recent acquisition deals: -------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Couche-Tard signed, through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Mac's Convenience Stores LLC, an agreement to acquire 26 company- operated stores operating in the Mid-Atlantic region in the United States. Assuming the closing of the transaction which is scheduled for late this summer, the Corporation would own the real estate for 25 sites while it would lease the other one. The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions. According to confidentiality agreement between the parties no other information may be disclosed at this time. 2. Couche-Tard acquired, through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Mac's Convenience Stores Inc., 12 company-operated stores located in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British-Columbia, Canada, from Shell Canada Products. The Corporation owns the land and buildings for seven sites and leases these same assets for five sites. 3. Through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiaries, Couche-Tard acquired - 5 company-operated stores operating under the banner "Gas City" of which, one is located in Arizona and four in the Chicago area, United States. The Corporation acquired the land and buildings for three of these sites and leases the others. Profile -------
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In North America, Couche-Tard is the largest independent convenience store operator (whether integrated with a petroleum company or not) in terms of number of company-operated stores. Couche-Tard's network is comprised of 5,874 convenience stores, 4,169 of which include motor fuel dispensing, operated by 13 business units, including nine in the United States covering 42 states and the District of Columbia, and four in Canada covering all ten provinces. More than 53,000 people are employed throughout Couche-Tard's retail convenience network and service centers.
The statements set forth in this press release, which describes Couche-Tard's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation. Positive or negative verbs such as "plan", "evaluate", "estimate", "believe", "expect" and other related expressions are used to identify such statements. Couche-Tard would like to point out that, by their very natures, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such that its results, or the measures it adopts, could differ materially from those indicated or underlying these statements, or could have an impact on the degree of realization of a particular projections. Major factors that may lead to a material difference between Couche-Tard's actual results and the projections or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements include the effects of the integration of acquired businesses and the ability to achieve projected synergies, fluctuations in margins on motor fuel sales, competition in the convenience store and retail motor fuel industries, exchange rate variations, and such other risks as described in detail from time to time in the reports filed by Couche-Tard with securities authorities in Canada and the United States. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Couche-Tard disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information available as of the date of the release.
SOURCE ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD INC.
Share this article