APGN.L Share News (APGN)

(Sharecast News) - Irish forecourt company Applegreen has agreed to buy a leasehold interest in certain forecourt retail assets of US-based Lehigh Gas Wholesale, CrossAmerica Partners and their affiliates in the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.Under the terms of the deal, Applegreen will enter into an initial 10-year lease agreement for 46 sites, many of which are concentrated in and close to the greater Minneapolis and St Paul metropolitan area. All the sites are petrol filling stations which currently include convenience store operations. Applegreen said the deal, which does not require it to pay an upfront consideration, is expected to be earnings accretive this year.The operations will be managed by its existing management team based in the north-east USA, which will be supplemented with additional operational and finance personnel to ensure the assets are successfully integrated into the Applegreen business.Chief executive Bob Etchingham said: "Following significant acquisitions on the east coast of the USA in the past two years, we are delighted to announce our first major acquisition in the mid-west. 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."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."At 0950 BST, the shares were down 2.5% at 465p.