Couche-Tard launches tender offer for all shares of Poland’s Zabka

By Marta Maciag

Aug 26 (Reuters) – Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard said on Wednesday it was launching a voluntary tender offer for all shares of Polish convenience store chain Zabka at 32 zlotys each, in line with its earlier plans.

The offer, which is set to run from Thursday until September 25, is 2.3% higher than Zabka’s last closing price on the Warsaw bourse and values the company at roughly 32.6 billion zlotys ($8.8 billion).

Zabka shares rose 0.7% to 31.50 zlotys in early trading, below the offer price which mBank analyst Janusz Pieta said was “a little too low”, although he noted that speculation that Poland might increase its corporate income tax could encourage some shareholders to sell.

Couche-Tard said in July it planned to buy Zabka in the Canadian convenience store operator’s biggest deal to date, after dropping a $46 billion approach for Japan’s Seven & I last year.

Circle K Polska, a Couche-Tard subsidiary, will acquire the shares, with Ipopema Securities acting as the intermediary.

Couche-Tard expects the acquisition to create around $250 million in annual cost benefits within three years, and said it could seek to delist Zabka if it gains at least 95% ownership.

Zabka operates roughly 13,000 stores across Poland and Romania, with its Polish stores located within 500 metres of residents’ homes on average.

($1 = 3.6902 zlotys)

(Reporting by Marta Maciag in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)