Alimentation Couche-Tard, Seven & i Holdings in the race to buy CST Brands
03 Jun 2016
Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc and Japan's Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd are in the race to buy US-based convenience store retailer CST Brands Inc, Reuters today reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Seven & i, the owner of US convenience store chain 7-Eleven, and Couche-Tard, are competing against several other bidders for CST, including a consortium of private equity firms Blackstone Group and Apollo Global Management, the report said.
CST will seek at least one more round of offers before deciding on selling itself, the report said, and added that a Seven & i spokesman denied it made an offer, saying it was not interested in buying the entire company.
CST, which has a market value of around $3.4 billion, was spun off from Valero Energy Corp in 2013.
Texas-based CST is the second-largest publicly traded fuel and convenience retailer in North America.
It owns and operates 1,900 convenience stores and gas stations in the US and Canada and also sells fuel under the Valero and Diamond Shamrock brands.
It also owns fuel supply chain CrossAmerica, which is primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of motor fuel and the ownership and leasing of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuel.
CST offers a range of products, such as snack foods, tobacco products, beverages and fresh foods, including its own brands, Fresh Choices sandwiches, salads and packaged goods, U Force energy drinks, Cibolo Mountain coffees in the US, Transit Cafe coffee and bakery in Canada, FC bottled sodas, and Flavors 2 Go fountain sodas.
CST, which reported 2015 revenues of about $11.4 billion, competes with 7-Eleven, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Casey's General Stores, and The Pantry.
