Applegreen has announced that is has acquired a leasehold interest in forecourt retail assets of Lehigh Gas Wholesale, CrossAmerica Partners, and their affiliates, in the US.
No up-front consideration is required to be paid by the Irish forecourt retailer, and the transaction is expected to be earnings growth in 2019.
The retail assets comprise a total of 46 sites with a strong majority concentrated in and around the greater Minneapolis and St Paul metropolitan area.
Applegreen will enter into an initial 10-year lease agreement with the American companies to lease the property assets and commence trade at the service stations.
US Expansion
These assets come with ‘favourable terms’ and extension options negotiated ‘in order to allow for a 'low-risk expansion' of Applegreen's presence in the USA,’ the company said in a statement.
Operations will be managed by Applegreen’s current North-East USA management team, which will receive additional personnel.
Chief Executive Bob Etchingham said that he is happy to see a major acquisition in the mid-west of America after significant M&A activity on the east coast over the last two years.
“We consider this group of sites to be a good fit for our business given the convenience of its locations centred in the large metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul and we are happy to expand on our existing relationship with CAP in the USA,” he said.
“We believe that this acquisition represents an opportunity to establish a significant presence in another market in the USA while leveraging our existing management and operational capabilities.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
