Report: 7-Eleven bids $2 billion to buyout rival Casey’s General Store

Report: 7-Eleven bids $2B for Casey’s General

NEW YORK — Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is the mystery bidder for Casey’s General Stores Inc. that is trying to top a Canadian rival, according to a published report.

Casey’s, based in Ankeny, Iowa, operates a chain of convenience stores in the Midwest. It has rejected several offers by Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., including the latest bid of $38.50, which it shot down Tuesday.

At that time, Casey’s also said it had received a higher bid at $40 from an unnamed party. The company said the bid was also too low but it agreed to further talks with the suitor.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the deal it did not identify, reported Wednesday that 7-Eleven is the company making the bid.

7-Eleven and Casey’s declined to comment.

The 7-Eleven bid, valued at $2.03 billion, would significantly outstrip the offer by Couche-Tarde at $1.47 billion, which excludes about $528 million in Casey’s debt.

Couche-Tard, which owns Circle K brand in the U.S., has struggled to build support for its attempt to acquire Casey’s and has nominated eight people for election to the Casey’s board.

The company said it is glad that Casey’s appears to have put the business up for sale and looks forward to participating in Casey’s auction process. However, the company said the timing of Casey’s announcement of the latest bidder was “suspicious” and is likely an attempt by the board to inflate its stock price before the shareholder vote.

Casey’s will hold its annual stockholders’ meeting Sept. 23.

Shares of Casey’s rose 37 cents to close at $43.13 Wednesday but were trading at $43.67, an annual high, during the day.

Couche-Tard also reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday that would allow the company to buy Casey’s as long as it sells 25 of its stores and service stations within an unspecified time after closing on an acquisition.