Irving Oil and convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard have announced the expansion of their existing partnership to include 252 Irving Oil convenience retail sites across Atlantic Canada and New England.
The expanded partnership will provide both Couche-Tard and Irving Oil with opportunities to serve more customers and to grow in the Northeast, including the southern New England states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The transaction is anticipated to close in July and is subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
Under the expanded partnership, 252 Irving Oil convenience stores located in Atlantic Canada and New England will be operated by Couche-Tard. Of these stores, 128 are located in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The other 124 stores are located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont.
Irving Oil will retain ownership of the convenience retail properties and Couche-Tard will lease the properties at market value for the next 20 years, and buy the store equipment and inventories by using internal available cash dollars. Irving Oil will continue to supply petroleum products to the sites. The fuel pumps and canopies at the sites will remain Irving-branded and the stores will be operated under a Couche-Tard brand.
Brian Hannasch, Couche-Tard’s senior vice president of US operations, said: Subsequent to this transaction, Couche-Tard’s Eastern Canada division would include a total of 693 company-operated stores and the Great Lakes division would include 432 company-operated stores. This transaction also marks Couche-Tard’s entry into the Northeast US and Atlantic Canada and the unique opportunity to do so with one of the most well-recognized fuel brands and strongest retail networks in this geography.
Harry Hadiaris, director of the business to consumer marketing business at Irving Oil, said: Expanding our existing partnership with North American convenience retail industry leader Couche-Tard is an exciting opportunity for our company to create a greater platform for growth in the Northeast and to focus on our core business of providing clean fuels to our customers.