CST Brands To Be Bought By Alimentation Couche-Tard For $48.53 Per Share Cash

CST Brands, Inc. CST disclosed that it reached a definitive merger deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. paving the way for the latter to acquire the former for $48.53 a share in cash. This represented a total enterprise value of about $4.4 billion. This included the assumed net debt. The transaction would be financed from the available cash by Couche-Tard apart from its existing credit facilities and a fresh term loan. The companies expect the transaction to close early next year 2017, subject regulatory approvals in the United States and Canada. CST Brands Chairman and CEO, Kim Lubel, said, "After the Board's comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value, we are pleased to reach this agreement with Couche-Tard, which we expect to provide immediate and compelling value to our stockholders." The companies indicated that the current transaction value represented a premium of about 42 percent to CST's closing stock price on March 3, 2016 and approximately 61 percent since May 1, 2013, the last date before regular way trading of CST after its spin off. In the pre-market trading on Monday, CST shed $0.26, or 0.55 percent, to $47.25.