7-Eleven vies with Couche-Tard for Casey's
America's largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, was identified Wednesday as the mystery suitor eyeing Casey's General Stores, pitting it against Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
The Wall Street Journal identified 7-Eleven as the competing bidder for Iowa-based Casey's, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The competition for Casey's puts Couche-Tard, which has 5,869 convenience stores in North America, against a much bigger foe. Texas-based 7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores owned by Seven & i Holdings Co. of Japan.
It has about 38,000 stores around the world, including about 457 in Canada at the beginning of this year.
The Dallas-based North American unit had sales of $16.7 billion US last year and has about 6,000 owned, operated and franchised stores in the United States.
The news comes as Couche-Tard said it would sell 25 stores and gas stations in the U.S. Midwest to meet antitrust concerns if it can acquire Casey's for about $2 billion US.
The Montreal-based operator reached an agreement with staff of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, subject to final approval by FTC commissioners and assuming the Canadian company succeeds in its hostile takeover.
The locations would be sold within an undisclosed time period following the closing of the acquisition, which faces staunch opposition from Casey's board, which has said the price is too low.
"The agreement with the FTC staff is another step towards making the combination of Couche-Tard and Casey's a reality," Couche-Tard president and CEO Alain Bouchard said in a statement.
Moot point?
The agreement with the competition agency may be moot since Casey's has rejected Couche-Tard's $38.50-a-share offer and opted instead to negotiate over the mystery suitor's offer of $40 a share.
Earlier this week, the board of Casey's, which operates 1,533 locations, mostly in small towns in the U.S. Midwest, recommended shareholders spurn the recently sweetened offer from Couche-Tard while it digested the new higher offer.
The company said it still considered both bids well under value, but would explore the new transaction in hopes of getting a deal done.
On the Toronto stock market Wednesday, Couche-Tard shares dropped 27 cents to $23.19 Cdn.