Alimentation Couche-Tard is expanding its reach in the southern United States with a deal to buy 18 convenience stores operating under the Texas Star brand.
The deal also includes two Subway stores and a dealer fuel supply network in the southern part of Texas. The purchase price isn’t being disclosed.
The convenience stores will be converted to the Circle K brand and will continue to sell Shell and CITGO-branded fuel. The deal is expected to close by next April.
With this deal, Couche-Tard’s U.S. Southwest division will include 513 corporate and franchised stores.
The Quebec-based company also said its chief financial officer has resigned, effective Thursday, to “pursue other interests and spend more time with his family.”
Raymond Pare has been with the Couche-Tard for 13 years including about seven as CFO. Chief executive Brian Hannasch will handle financial and investor issues until a replacement is found.
Hannasch said Pare was instrumental in the company’s growth through key acquisitions including Statoil Fuel & Retail in northern Europe and The Pantry in the United States.
Analyst Irene Nattel of RBC Capital Markets said Pare’s sudden departure is not “optimal,” but shouldn’t be viewed as a signal of “anything untoward” in the company’s financial statements.
“Rather we would interpret it as not unusual within the context of a new CEO, particularly as Couche-Tard embarks on the integration of The Pantry and the imminent closing of the previously announced agreement to acquire Shell’s convenience-store assets in Denmark,” she wrote in a note.
Derek Dley of Canaccord Genuity said despite Pare’s departure, the company’s fundamentals remain strong with sizable acquisition opportunities demonstrated by the Texas deal.
