Alimentation Couche-Tard to Sell 355 Convenience Store Sites
The company is selling 49 sites in Oklahoma to Casey’s General Stores for $39 million in an all-cash transaction.
Alimentation Couche-Tard is selling 49 sites in Oklahoma to Casey’s General Stores Inc. for $39 million in an all-cash transaction.
Included in the transaction are 46 leased and three owned properties. The deal is expected to close by July 31, 2021. Matrix Capital Markets Group was the financial advisor to Couche-Tard on the transaction.
In addition, Alimentation Couche-Tard has retained a real estate advisory firm to coordinate the sale of 306 sites, including 269 sites across 25 states in the US and 37 sites across six provinces in Canada. The average store size is approximately 2,600 square feet, and the average lot size is 29,500 square feet. Of the 306 sites, 122 are fee-owned and 184 are leased, while 238 properties sell fuel and 68 are convenience only. Expressions of interest are due in early May.
Alimentation Couche-Tard decided to divest the stores after a planning process that began in the Fall of 2020.
“Through this process, we have identified sites that no longer fit our strategic objectives, either from a brand perspective or from a regional scale perspective,” Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Couche-Tard said in a prepared statement. “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.”
John Feeney, senior vice president, The Boulder Group, says it isn’t unusual for companies to reevaluate their sites and optimize their portfolios. “Companies are constantly doing this,” he tells GlobeSt.com.
While the transaction isn’t a vast number of stores given Alimentation Couche-Tard’s portfolio, he does think it is interesting that Casey’s is purchasing the stores.
“There are 46 lease locations and you don’t see Casey’s single-tenant deals out there because they historically have owned a lot of their real estate,” Feeney says. “So this is an opportunity to see a new tenant in the space. Some of these locations are going to be leased to third-party landlords. And, maybe at some point in the next year or two, you may see some single-tenant Casey’s net leased assets on the market.”