Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. agreed to buy the gas-station chain CST Brands Inc. in a $4.4 billion deal, including debt, expanding its foothold in Texas and eastern Canada with the help of its biggest-ever acquisition.
Couche-Tard will pay $48.53 a share for CST, the Laval, Quebec-based retailer said on Monday in a statement. The offer represents a 42 percent premium over CST’s closing price on March 3, before the company said it would explore strategic alternatives.
The acquisition, the fourth announced by Couche-Tard this year, is the largest in the company’s 36-year history. It eclipses the 2012 purchase of Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA for about $2.8 billion, which established a foothold in Europe.
Couche-Tard, Canada’s biggest convenience-store company, operates more than 12,000 locations globally under brands such as Circle K and Mac’s. CST, meanwhile, has about 2,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, most of which are in Texas, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
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