Business

Couche-Tard sells 49 stores in Oklahoma to Casey's for $39M – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

March 22, 2021

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is looking to shed nearly four per cent of its North American network starting with a deal to sell 49 stores in Oklahoma to Casey’s General Stores Inc. for $39 million US.

The deal includes 46 leased and three owned properties and is expected to close by July 31.

The Quebec-based convenience store company says it has also hired a real estate advisory firm to help with the sale of 306 other sites across North America following a strategic review.

“The decision to divest select stores fits within the company’s network optimization strategy and follows a comprehensive and uniform network planning process that began in the fall of 2020,” Couche-Tard CEO Brian Hannasch said in a statement.

“Through this process, we have identified sites that no longer fit our strategic objectives, either from a brand perspective or from a regional scale perspective.”

He added that the retailer has identified many opportunities to expand by building new stores, enlarging others, improving store layouts and enhancing sales of fresh food.

The stores up for sale include 269 locations across 25 states in the United States and 37 sites across six provinces in Canada.

Analyst Irene Nattel of RBC Dominion Securities says the 355 stores, which includes the stores to be sold to Casey’s General Stores, represent about 3.8 per cent of Couche-Tard’s network.

“Given the real estate value associated with the sites to be divested, there is a strong possibility that total proceeds will exceed that $285 million, particularly if locations for sale include prime locations in urban areas,” she wrote in a note to clients.

“While this morning’s announcement is not overly material from a financial perspective, we view the news positively. The network optimization operation is consistent with our positive views around management’s focus on optimizing returns and willingness to think outside the box in its pursuit of surfacing value for shareholders.”

The deal with Casey’s comes more than a decade after the Iowa-based chain rebuffed a hostile takeover attempt by Couche-Tard.

Couche-Tard has more than 14,200 stores in 26 countries and territories.

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Business

Suncor Energy pleads guilty to charges for 2019 injury on oil vessel off Newfoundland

Published

1 day ago

September 27, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Suncor Energy has been fined $90,000 after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a worker injury in 2019 aboard its production vessel in an oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland.

In a news release Thursday, the province’s offshore oil regular said the company must also give $20,000 to the College of the North Atlantic’s health and safety management program.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board says Calgary-based Suncor pleaded guilty on Sept. 5 for failing to ensure the safety of its employees and failing to ensure its employees wore a safety harness attached to a lifeline while inside a confined space.

The board says a worker fell 7.6 metres from a safety ladder while testing for hydrogen sulfide in a ballast tank on the floating production and storage vessel in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield.

An agreed statement of facts says two emergency response workers then went into the tank to tend to the fallen man, and they were not wearing gas masks.

Suncor Energy is the majority owner of the Terra Nova oilfield, and it reported net earnings of $1.57 billion in the second quarter of this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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Business

TD Bank announces new co-heads of U.S. commercial banking business

Published

3 days ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

Toronto-Dominion Bank has named new co-heads of its U.S. commercial banking business.

TD says Andy Bregenzer and Jill Gateman will jointly lead the operations.

The bank says the appointments follow the announcement earlier this year of Chris Giamo’s retirement.

Bregenzer will focus on leading all aspects of the regional commercial bank, including small business.

Gateman will lead TD’s national commercial banking effort in the U.S., including middle market, sponsor-backed finance and TD’s other specialty lending lines of business.

TD, which is working to resolve investigations into failures in its anti-money laundering program in the U.S., announced last week that chief executive Bharat Masrani would retire next year and be replaced by Raymond Chun.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)

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Payments tech company Lightspeed Commerce conducting strategic review of business

Published

3 days ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Lightspeed Commerce Inc. says it is conducting a review of its business and operations including talks relating to a range of potential strategic alternatives.

The Montreal-based payments technology company made the comments after reports concerning a potential transaction involving the company.

Lightspeed says it periodically undertakes a review of its business and operations with a view of realizing its full potential.

A strategic review is often seen by investors as a prelude to a sale by a company.

Lightspeed says its board of directors is committed to acting in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders.

Company founder Dax Dasilva returned to the role of chief executive officer earlier this year and has been working to return the company to profitability.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:LSPD)

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