ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD $59.93(Toronto symbol ATD.B: TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-800-361-2612; www.couchetard. com; Shares outstanding: 567.4 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.5%) operates 7,979 convenience stores throughout North America.
In Europe, the company operates 2,218 stores across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia.
In the three months ended January 31, 2016, Couche-Tard’s sales rose 2.5%, to $9.33 billion from $9.11 billion a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 4.2%. That’s a climb from $289.0 million, or $0.51 a share, to $301.0 million, or $0.53 a share.
Couche-Tard has made some big acquisitions over the last few years. In Norway, it bought Statoil Fuel & Retail gas stations for $2.7 billion in June 2012. It also picked up The Pantry chain in the Southern U.S. for $1.7 billion in March 2015. In February of this year, it purchased Ireland’s Topaz chain for $280.9 million.
The company has now agreed to buy 279 Esso gas stations in Ontario and Quebec from Imperial Oil for $1.7 billion. The purchase looks like a great fit for Couche-Tard: it’s getting all of the prime locations in the Greater Toronto (189 stations) and Montreal areas (50). These are the highest-volume sites. As well, most of the locations in Ontario have a full Tim Hortons store onsite. Couche-Tard is also considering the CST Brands chain of convenience stores as another key purchase.
Growth by acquisition can be risky, especially with deals as big as the Statoil, The Pantry and Esso purchases. However, the company has a long record of successfully integrating the firms it acquires.
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