Table of Contents
LAVAL, Quebec — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., a leader in the global convenience store sector, announced it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire GetGo Café +Markets from Giant Eagle Inc.
GetGo has about 270 locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and West Virginia offering a “food-first convenience store experience.”
The announcement comes as the Canadian company said it had made a “friendly, non-binding” proposal to buy 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings Co.
If successful, the acquisition of Seven & i would be the largest takeover yet of a Japanese company. Couche-Tard is smaller than Seven & i, with about 16,700 stores compared with about 85,000 for the Japanese retailer. About 22,000 of the 7-Eleven stores are in Japan, making it the country's most popular convenience store chain.
7-Eleven International is a joint venture between 7-Eleven Inc. and Seven-Eleven Japan Co., which are owned by the holding company, Seven & i Holdings Co. The 7-Eleven trademark is represented in 20 countries and regions.
Couche-Tard currently operates in 31 countries and territories. Brands include Circle K, Ingo, and its flagship Couche-Tard, with some 650 locations in Quebec.
As part of the proposed deal for GetGo, Couche-Tard and Giant Eagle have agreed to maintain and partner on Giant Eagle’s myPerks loyalty program.
“We are excited to welcome GetGo into the Couche-Tard family,” said Brian Hannasch, president and chief executive officer at Couche-Tard. “We have deep respect for its management and people as well as its outstanding food and loyalty programs. We look forward to growing together as we learn from and continue GetGo’s innovative approaches to serving its local customers and communities.”
Bill Artman, CEO at Giant Eagle, said the deal “enhances our focus on our core supermarket and pharmacy businesses, strengthening Giant Eagle and better enabling us to make strategic investments in our people, stores, and value proposition while matching GetGo with the perfect partner in Couche-Tard. Their depth of experience in convenience stores and fuel will create tremendous opportunities for our team members and customers, and we look forward to partnering with them on the myPerks.”
