Couche-Tard magazine-t-it in the United States?

Photo: Graham Hughes The canadian Press
Alimentation Couche-Tard must disclose its results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year on June 29.

After you put on the ice in his attempt to penetrate the australian market, Alimentation Couche-Tard could well turn a blind eye once again to the United States to make its next acquisition of a large scale.

The u.s. petroleum Marathon would be planning to dispose of Speedway, one of the largest chains of convenience stores and service stations in the south of the border, and after the daily new yorker, ” Wall Street Journal “, the multinational quebec would be among the potential buyers.

However, the invoice transaction could be salty, since the Marathon was already informed, last autumn, while she was considering the sale of Speedway, that this asset could be worth between 15 billion and 18 billion US dollars — before the pandemic of COVID-19 come and change everything.

“In our opinion, the size of the transaction and the issues surrounding access to capital, reduce the potential list of buyers, has emphasized the analysis of RBC capital Markets Irene Nattel, in a recent note sent to investors. As for any potential transaction, we expect Couche-Tard to be part of the process and that she is very disciplined. “

In an email, a spokesperson of the multinational company based in Laval, Laurence Myre Leroux, has not wanted to confirm nor deny what was advanced by the daily new yorker. She stressed that the company did not discuss ” not publicly, of this kind of activity “.

Marathon could also opt for a spin-off of Speedway, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Before putting her project on ice last April in the wake of the health crisis, Couche-Tard had proposed 7.9 billion canadian dollars in the hope of acquiring the australian company, Caltex, in particular the owner of a network of some 2,000 service stations in the countries of Oceania. If she had been forward, this transaction would have been the largest in the history of the quebec company.

The gap to fill is so important when one takes into account the value attributed to Speedway by Marathon, stressed Ms. Nattel.

“Couche-Tard could associate with another partner […] particularly given the geographic overlap between the two networks (of Couche-Tard, and Speedway) “, said the analyst.

The two companies are very present in a dozen u.s. States, including Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana.

Speedway operates a network of approximately 3900 convenience stores and service stations in the south of the border. In the united states, Couche-Tard is present in 48 States with more than 7,700 stores. The quebec-based company, which hopes to double its size within 5 years, is also present in Canada as well as Europe. Its network comprises approximately 16 000 points of sale.

The multinational quebec had been very active in the United States in the past few years by swallowing CST Brands and Holiday, two transactions whose total value is around 6 billion US dollars. The closing of these two acquisitions had taken place during the financial year 2018.

After a conditional offer last November, Couche-Tard had returned to the charge again, with bonus offers in order to acquire Caltex to set foot in Australia. Due to the new coronavirus, the company had set aside for the project, saying it would focus on its own management in an economic context that is turbulent.

The multinational company must disclose its results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year on June 29.

On the Toronto stock Exchange, the title of Couche-Tard traded at 42,74 $, Monday morning, down $ 1.05, or 2.4 %. The market value of the company hovers around $ 48 billion.