Fuel operator Alimentation Couche-Tard has announced it has teamed up with a real estate advisory firm to coordinate the sale of 306 forecourt and convenience sites across the US and Canada.
The mandate includes 269 sites across 25 states in the US, and 37 sites across six provinces in Canada. Of these, 238 are forecourt operators, while 68 are convenience-only businesses.
Separately, the group has announced an agreement to sell 49 sites in Oklahoma, USA, to Casey's General Stores, for an all-cash transaction of $39 million.
The transaction includes 46 leased and three company-owned properties, and is expected to close at the end of July.
Network Optimisation
"The decision to divest select stores fits within the company's network optimisation strategy and follows a comprehensive and uniform network planning process that began in the fall of 2020," commented Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Couche-Tard.
Hannasch added that through this process, Couche-Tard has identified sites that "no longer fit" its strategic objectives, either from a brand or regional scale perspective.
"Concurrently, we have identified many opportunities to expand our footprint through new store builds and will continue to allocate capital to upgrade the size and scale of our locations, improve store layouts, and allow for the best utilization of our Fresh Food, Fast program as well as other initiatives which improve the customer journey," he added.
Last week, Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates the Circle K business, reported that its revenues dropped by 20.8% last year, largely due to lower duel demand, however its same store sales growth was up.
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