6 Jul 2017 07:00
This announcement contains inside information within the meaning of the EU Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014
Applegreen plc
("Applegreen" or the "Company")
Acquisition of US forecourt operation
Dublin, London, 6 July 2017: Applegreen is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement to acquire the trade and certain assets of Bob Brandi Inc. and Bob Brandi Stores Inc. (the "Brandi Group") a forecourt retail operation based in Columbia, South Carolina (the "Transaction")
Under the terms of the Transaction, Applegreen will acquire the trade and certain assets (the "Business") of the Brandi Group for a consideration of US$5.4m (inclusive of working capital) and a leading U.S institutional real estate investor will acquire certain property assets of the business for US$70.1m. At completion of the Transaction, Applegreen will enter into a long term agreement with the same real estate investor to lease the property assets. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions and, pending satisfaction of those conditions, is expected to complete in Q4 2017.
The Business comprises a total of 42 sites located in or close to the city of Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina. 34 of these sites are petrol filling stations which incorporate 11 Burger King restaurants and a number of other food offers including Subway and Blimpie. In addition, the Business operates eight stand-alone Burger King sites.
The Business currently generates an adjusted EBITDA1 of c.$3m and is expected to be earnings accretive in 2018. The consideration of US$5.4m is being funded from existing resources.
The current owner has committed to working with the existing management team for the first 12 months to ensure an orderly transition of operations to Applegreen. The Company will supplement those existing resources with additional Applegreen finance and operational personnel to ensure a successful integration of the Business.
Chief Executive Bob Etchingham said: "We are delighted to announce our first major acquisition in the US which represents a significant milestone for our business. We consider the Brandi Group to be an excellent fit for our business given the attraction and convenience of its locations centred in the city of Columbia together with the significant component of food-to-go offers that exists within the estate. We believe that this acquisition represents an opportunity to establish a significant presence in this market while also providing the potential for us to leverage our retail experience in this sector to enhance the current offering. It also represents an ideal platform from which to further pursue our strategy for growth along the East Coast of the US."
1 adjusted to reflect the new cost base
For further enquiries, please contact:
Applegreen
Bob Etchingham, CEO / Niall Dolan, CFO +353 (0) 1 512 4800
Drury Porter Novelli (Irish media):
Paddy Hughes +353 (0) 1 260 5000
Goodbody
Joe Gill +353 (0) 1 667 0420
Siobhan Wall
Shore Capital
Stephane Auton +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Patrick Castle