TORONTO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Couche-Tard is willing to consider raising its $2 billion bid for Casey's General Stores, countering a higher offer from 7-Eleven, if the process is fair, the Canadian-based convenience store operator said on Friday.
'If we are granted access to a fair process and have the opportunity to conduct a confirmatory due diligence review of Casey's, we would be willing to consider further increasing our offer,' Alain Bouchard, chief executive of Alimentation Couche-Tard, wrote in a letter to Casey's board.
The letter comes after Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's confirmed late on Thursday that it was in buyout talks with Japan's 7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience store operator and a subsidiary of Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co.
7-Eleven, which operates more than 31,400 stores around the world, had offered $2.03 billion, or $40 a share for the U.S. Midwest company's 1,500-plus stores, trumping Couche-Tard's most recent offer of $2 billion, or $38.50-a
share offer, made Sept 1.
In the letter, Bouchard also suggested Casey's postpone its annual shareholders meeting for two to three weeks to complete the sales process and report the results at the meeting.
Casey's investors were due to meet Sept 23, where shareholders would vote on a roster of candidates that Couche-Tard has nominated.
Couche-Tard, which operates more than 5,800 stores in North America, has repeatedly criticized Casey's for refusing to engage in talks since it made its initial offer of $36 a share back in April.
'Should Casey's decline to conduct a fair process, your shareholders would be deprived of additional value that we may have been willing to offer,' Bouchard wrote.
Casey's, for its part, has dismissed Couche-Tard's approaches as significantly undervaluing the company.
A spokesman for Casey's declined to comment.
Earlier on Friday, Couche-Tard said it was buying 12 stores in Indiana from Crystal Flash Petroleum for an undisclosed sum. The new stores would be operated under its Circle K banner.
Casey's shares closed down 1 percent at $43.51 on the Nasdaq. Couche-Tard shares were down 0.2 percent at C$23.00 in Toronto.
($1=$1.03 Canadian)
(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Frank McGurty) Keywords: COUCHETARD/ (solarina.ho@thomsonreuters.com;+1 416 941 8067; Reuters Messaging: solarina.ho.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'If we are granted access to a fair process and have the opportunity to conduct a confirmatory due diligence review of Casey's, we would be willing to consider further increasing our offer,' Alain Bouchard, chief executive of Alimentation Couche-Tard, wrote in a letter to Casey's board.
The letter comes after Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's confirmed late on Thursday that it was in buyout talks with Japan's 7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience store operator and a subsidiary of Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co.
7-Eleven, which operates more than 31,400 stores around the world, had offered $2.03 billion, or $40 a share for the U.S. Midwest company's 1,500-plus stores, trumping Couche-Tard's most recent offer of $2 billion, or $38.50-a
share offer, made Sept 1.
In the letter, Bouchard also suggested Casey's postpone its annual shareholders meeting for two to three weeks to complete the sales process and report the results at the meeting.
Casey's investors were due to meet Sept 23, where shareholders would vote on a roster of candidates that Couche-Tard has nominated.
Couche-Tard, which operates more than 5,800 stores in North America, has repeatedly criticized Casey's for refusing to engage in talks since it made its initial offer of $36 a share back in April.
'Should Casey's decline to conduct a fair process, your shareholders would be deprived of additional value that we may have been willing to offer,' Bouchard wrote.
Casey's, for its part, has dismissed Couche-Tard's approaches as significantly undervaluing the company.
A spokesman for Casey's declined to comment.
Earlier on Friday, Couche-Tard said it was buying 12 stores in Indiana from Crystal Flash Petroleum for an undisclosed sum. The new stores would be operated under its Circle K banner.
Casey's shares closed down 1 percent at $43.51 on the Nasdaq. Couche-Tard shares were down 0.2 percent at C$23.00 in Toronto.
($1=$1.03 Canadian)
(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Frank McGurty) Keywords: COUCHETARD/ (solarina.ho@thomsonreuters.com;+1 416 941 8067; Reuters Messaging: solarina.ho.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.