(Alliance News) - Roadside service station owner Applegreen PLC said Wednesday it intends to buy a 40% stake in US highway service plazas in Connecticut for USD38 million.
Applegreen will form part of a consortium that will buy JLIF Holdings (Project Service) US Inc, which owns 23 services across important interstate roads between the cities of Boston and New York. Other consortium members include IST3 Investment Foundation and TD Greystone Asset Management.
Applegreen will pay USD37.6 million to take a 40% stake in the consortium and the assets, with a call option with TD Greystone to increase this to 60% if exercised. Applegreen will fund the acquisition using exisiting resources.
In total, the consortium will pay USD129.6 million for 100% of JLIF, giving the JLIF a USD229 million enterprise value including debt.
For the year ended June, JLIF generated USD4.2 million in pretax profit. No revenue figure was given. In 2018, Applegreen generated EUR15.4 million pretax profit on revenue of EUR2.01 billion.
"This transaction represents a rare opportunity to acquire a high profile service plaza concession project in one of our core regions in the United States, significantly increasing our market presence in the North East and positioning the company for further growth in this key strategic market", Applegreen Chief Executive Officer Bob Etchingham said.
Shares in Dublin-based Applegreen were marginally higher at 485.63 pence in London on Wednesday.
