(Adds details on deal, background)
March 17 (Reuters) - Canadian convenience store operatorAlimentation Couche-Tard said on Tuesday that it wouldacquire the retail, commercial fuel and aviation businesses ofRoyal Dutch Shell in Denmark to expand its presence inScandinavia.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of thedeal. Pending regulatory clearances, they said they expected itto close in the second half of Couche-Tard's next fiscal year,which ends around April 2016.
Couche-Tard will finance the acquisition, which includes 225full-service stations, 75 automated fuel stations and 15 truckstops, from available cash and existing credit facilities.
The aviation segment operates out of seven Danish airportsincluding one in Copenhagen.
The deal would allow Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard to usethe Shell brand in Denmark for up to 10 years.
"This acquisition would be a great addition to our networkin Scandinavia," Jacob Schram, head of Couche-Tard's Europeanoperations, said in a statement.
This would be Couche-Tard's first major foray into Europesince its acquisition of Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA for $2.8billion in 2012. That deal brought the company 2,300 automatedand full-service gas stations across Scandinavia.
Couche-Tard had hinted last year that it was in the marketfor acquisitions.
In December, the company agreed to buy smaller U.S. rivalPantry Inc for $861 million, bolstering its hugeposition in that market. (Reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto and Ron Bousso in London;Editing by David Goodman and Lisa Von Ahn)
