CST CEO Kim Lubel Addresses Company Rumors

SAN ANTONIO — CST Brands Inc. employees should not be distracted by the rumors that other companies are interested in buying the retailer, CEO Kim Lubel wrote in a Friday memo.

“You may have heard or read recent rumors regarding our company,” Lubel said in the memo, as the San Antonio Express-News reported. “This is something many publicly traded companies face. And, like most public companies, it is our long-standing policy not to comment on rumors or speculation. Don’t let market rumors distract you.”

As CSNews Online reported last week, Engine Capital LP sent a letter to San Antonio-based CST’s board of directors on Dec. 9, stating the convenience store retailer needs to either make wholesale changes or look to sell the company outright to boost the price of its shares. Speedway LLC, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. and Sunoco LP have been named as companies that would be interested in buying the operator of more than 1,900 stores in the United States and Canada.

In Lubel’s memo, she stated the company will “continue to take action to build and grow.” This includes a plan to build 400 new-to-industry stores in the next five years.

“We were … reminded this week that, as a public company, our shareholders depend on us every day to create value by superior execution,” Lubel said in the memo. “We have to continue to push harder than ever to be industry leaders.”

New York City-based Engine Capital, owner of approximately 1 percent of CST’s shares, could take its concerns one step further in 2016 by attempting to obtain seats on the retailer’s board of directors. The venture capital firm in its letter specifically criticized CST for having a “classified board [of directors] and a combined position of chairman and CEO. We question whether there is proper accountability and oversight at the board level.”