Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard has announced plans to expand further in the US, with the planned acquisition of more than 200 outlets by the end of the year.
“Our next acquisition will be in the United States. We are looking at many files right now,” Couche-Tard president and chief executive Alain Bouchard was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“We can easily buy three, four or five hundred stores,” he said. “It could be an investment in the range of C$500m to C$600m (US$370m to $445m).”
Bouchard said the company was not interested in acquiring the nearly 300 White Hen Pantry stores of bankrupt Clark Retail Enterprises.
Montreal-based Couche-Tard operates around 690 stores in the US, which are concentrated in the Midwest, as well as 1,800 stores in Canada.
The company said it also planned to increase the number of fastfood counters in its stores with franchises from Subway, Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts, reported Reuters.
