Caltex Confirms Several Parties Have Expressed Interest in Making a Deal

SYDNEY, Australia — Although there has been much speculation over potential suitors for Australia's largest service station operator, only one has submitted a bid.

In November, Caltex Australia Ltd. received "an unsolicited, conditional, confidential, non-binding and indicative proposal" from Alimentation Couche-Tard to acquire all shares at A$34.50. The proposal followed Couche-Tard's previous offer of A$32.00 per share, which Caltex rejected as inadequate.

In early January, Bloomberg reported that U.K.-based EG Group was working with a financial adviser as it evaluates making a bid for Caltex. Any proposal could spark a bidding war between the parent company of Westborough, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms and Couche-Tard, the parent company of Circle K.

Caltex acknowledged interest from other companies; however, that's as far as it has gone.

"Since announcing receipt of an unsolicited, conditional, confidential, non-binding and indicative proposal from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to acquire all of the shares in Caltex, Caltex confirms it has had approaches from a number of parties, including EG Group, who have indicated that they are potentially interested in making a proposal to acquire Caltex or some of its assets," the company said in statement on Jan. 8.

Despite the interest, Caltex has not received any acquisition proposals from other companies. It has also not received a revised bid from Couche-Tard, it said.

"There is no certainty that any binding proposal will be made by any of the parties who have expressed potential interest," Caltex added.

To date, Caltex has not reached a deal to sell. On Dec. 3, the company said its board of directors concluded that Couche-Tard's proposal undervalues the company and does not represent compelling value for Caltex's shareholders.

However, the board offered to provide Couche-Tard with selected non-public information to allow it to formulate a revised proposal, as Convenience Store News previously reported.

Sydney-based Caltex is a transport fuel supplier, with a network of approximately 2,000 company-owned or affiliated sites across Australia.