LAVAL, Que. – Canada’s largest convenience store chain has offered to purchase Scandinavian convenience and fuel retailer Statoil Fuel and Retail for $2.8 billion.
Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX:ATD.A) hopes to buy the company’s shares at a 53 per cent premium.
Statoil ASA, Norway’s top oil company, will retain a 46 per cent stake in the company.
Statoil Fuel & Retail’s board of directors has approved the transaction and recommends that shareholders accept the Offer.
Alimentation Couche-Tard is the largest independent convenience store operator in North America with 5,817 stores, including 4,225 which also sell fuel.
Statoil Fuel & Retail is the top Scandinavian convenience and fuel retailer with about 2,300 full-service or automated stations.
“Moving into Scandinavia and Europe is an important step in implementing Couche-Tard’s growth strategy,” said Couche-Tard president and CEO Alain Bouchard.
