Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, the owner of Circle K, has proposed an offer of 7.5 billion to 8 billion dollars for Cumberland Farms, Britain’s Times newspaper reported on Saturday, in a report carried by Reuters. Neither Couche-Tard nor Cumberland Farms immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment, and no company announcement has been made.
Cumberland Farms, formerly known as EG Group, operates more than 3,200 convenience stores and fuel stations across the US and Europe, according to the report. Its ownership is split between private equity firm TDR Capital, which holds 50 percent, and the Issa brothers, who hold 25 percent each.
The price is the tension in the story. The offer would be lower than the 9 billion dollar valuation target Cumberland set for a planned US initial public offering, and the report said the company remained committed to a US listing, citing people close to it. Cumberland filed with the SEC for a proposed IPO in early July.
The report also said Cumberland had delayed its planned IPO after receiving takeover interest, including from infrastructure investor Stonepeak, and that a float is unlikely before 2027, a timeline the Financial Times reported earlier this month. A trade sale to Couche-Tard would give TDR and the Issa brothers a certain exit now, at a discount to their own listing target, while giving Couche-Tard a large US Northeast and European forecourt network to fold into Circle K.