Couche-Tard acquires assets from TotalEnergies for $3.1bn

Canadian c-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard acquiring and taking control of four TotalEnergies networks in Europe in a deal worth $3.1 billion.

The first part of the transaction involves the sale of all service stations TotalEnergies has in Germany (1,198) and the Netherlands (392). Couche-Tard will look to boost the convenience business while TotalEnergies focuses on electric mobility and hydrogen fuelling.

In Belgium and Luxembourg, both companies will form a joint venture (TotalEnergies 40%, Couche-Tard 60%) that will own and operate 619 service stations. The French multinational is a market leader in these two countries. The partnership seeks to accelerate the transformation of these assets into service hubs.

All service stations will remain under the TotalEnergies brand while the fuel is supplied by them, with a minimum period of five years. The $3.1 billion deal includes the sites and the B2B fuel card activities. The French player will still own off-station EV charging, hydrogen retail and wholesale fuel business, as well as the AS 24 service station network for trucks.

“We see this as a strong geographical fit with our existing European network, which will allow us to grow together in some of Europe’s strongest economies and move forward in our vision to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and mobility,” said Brian Hannasch, President and CEO of Couche-Tard.

Couche-Tard, which has over 14,000 c-stores globally, has been looking to expand in Europe since its bid for Carrefour failed in 2021 due to opposition from the French government. The convenience giant operates under the Couche-Tard and Circle K brand in the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Ireland, Poland and Hong Kong.

“In Europe, the transformation of mobility is changing the way customers use service stations. This deep trend means that new services and new activities need to be developed, notably in the stores. Service stations must expand from just selling fuel to become full-fledged service hubs. For this reason, TotalEnergies has decided to partner with Couche-Tard and tap into its recognized expertise in operating convenience stores in service stations,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.

The move by TotalEnergies follows the European Union’s legal actions to become the first carbon-neutral continent, including the recent vote to end new sales of combustion-engine vehicles by 2035.

“These major trends are prompting TotalEnergies to make decisions regarding the future of its retail networks in Europe, which will see their fuel-related revenues decline, while electric vehicles will charge more often at home and at work, and less often in service stations,” states the company.

Since 2015, TotalEnergies has divested its service station networks in Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The focus for Europe will be to develop its new mobility business by deploying chargers on roads and cities as well as hydrogen infrastructure. The company already has plans to create a network of hydrogen stations for trucks in partnership with Air Liquide.

Musket, Hoyer sign European diesel procurement partnership

Musket Corporation, the trading and logistics arm of the Love’s Family of Companies, and Hoyer Trading & Supply GmbH, the supply arm of the Hoyer Group of Companies, announced a strategic partnership to procure diesel in Europe. As the European diesel market shifts away from traditional supply chains, both companies will use their downstream fuels expertise to provide supply in a challenging landscape.

The Love’s Family of Companies is headquartered in Oklahoma City and employs more than 39,000 people across the United States. Besides operating a network of over 600 locations across 42 states it also includes two Houston-based companies: Musket Corp. and Trillium Energy Solutions. Musket specializes in commodity supply, trading and logistics across North America. “We share a common culture that is driven by a focus on long-term value and investment in customer needs. We’ll leverage our newly formed Musket subsidiary in Geneva, Switzerland, to make sure this partnership is successful,” said Frank Love, co-CEO of the Love’s Family of Companies.

Hoyer is a traditional, independent family-run company since 1924 and headquartered in Visselhövede/Lower Saxony, Germany. With nearly 2500 employees across 100 national sales offices the company runs approximately 250 own retail stations and supplies B2B and B2C customers with the source of energy they need via its own logistic fleet of over 1300 vehicles.

California to phase out all existing single-wall underground storage tanks and lines on petrol stations

Regulators from the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and US EPA’s contractor, Redhorse Corporation, will discuss with stations owners the forthcoming deadline of 31 December 2025 for the closure or the upgrade of underground storage tanks (USTs) with single-walled components, as required by California statute.

Discussion will include: an overview of which USTs and piping will be affected. The CA State wide statistics describing the singlewalled USTs that till remain to be closed, challenges to timely UST closure, and SWRCB’s grant/loan program.

An appropriate named programme RUST (Replacing, Removing, or Upgrading Underground Storage Tanks), is available to assist eligible small businesses with paying for the costs of complying with the deadline.