Casey’s reveals better third party offer than Couche-Tard's

US convenience store operator Casey's General Stores Inc (Casey's) that is fending off a hostile $2-billion takeover bid by Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (Couche-Tard) today said that it has received a higher offer from a third party.

Iowa-based Casey's, which operates over 1,500 convenience stores in nine Midwestern states in the US, today once again rejected Couche-Tard's 1 September revised offer of $38.50 per share and said that it has received a preliminary proposal from a strategic third party for $40 per share in cash, valuing the convenience store at more than $2 billion.

Quebec-based Couche-Tard had once again raised its $36 a share March offer to $38.50 per share in cash on 1 September, implying a total enterprise value of approximately $2 billion on a fully diluted basis, including $528 million net debt of Casey's. (See: Couche-Tard sweetens bid for Casey's to $2 billion)

 Casey's has been rebuffing Couche-Tard's hostile takeover attempt since March on the grounds that the proposals significantly undervalued the company.

Without revealing the name of the suitor, Casey's said ''While its board firmly believes that the company's value substantially exceeds $40 per share, it has authorised discussions with the third party to explore whether a transaction can be reached that reflects the true value of Casey's.''

Couche-Tard, Canada's largest convenience store operator has been slowly expanding through acquisitions and plans to gain a footprint into the US mid-west market through the acquisition of Casey's.