Dive Brief:

• Alimentation Couche-Tard has agreed to acquire the membership interests of True Blue Car Wash LLC, an operator of 65 car wash sites across Arizona, Texas, Illinois and Indiana, according to a Thursday announcement. The deal is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2023.
• Once the deal closes, True Blue's management, office and operations teams are expected to join Couche-Tard, and current CEO Stuart Crum will still lead its operations, according to the announcement.
• With more than 60% of today’s car wash industry consisting of operators with only one to two locations, according to the announcement, the merger promises to give Couche-Tard one of the strongest car wash portfolios in the c-store industry.

Dive Insight:

True Blue operates express tunnel car wash sites under the Clean Freak and Rainstorm banners. The company has about 170,000 subscription members through its Fast Pass program, and has washed more than 10 million cars over the past year, according to the announcement.

Adding True Blue to its car wash portfolio will allow Couche-Tard to cross-promote and build loyalty and engagement among its customers and employees, president and CEO Brian Hannasch said in the announcement.

"With True Blue, we have a great opportunity to extend our brands into a very attractive industry subcategory in a way that complements our convenience and mobility offerings and enhances value for our customers,” Hannasch said in the release.

Couche-Tard sees the acquisition as “a natural extension of its current car wash network,” which includes over 2,500 locations. With more than 85% of True Blue's locations within three miles of a Circle K store, the two companies have “a strong geographic overlap,” according to the announcement.

"We are impressed by the strong growth achieved by True Blue in recent years, as evidenced by an approximate 45% growth in total cars washed between fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2021, and believe this acquisition will enable future growth for Couche-Tard in this segment as well as contribute to create value for our shareholders,” Claude Tessier, CFO of Couche-Tard, said in the announcement.

Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard operates more than 9,000 c-stores in North America — including over 7,000 in the U.S. — under the Circle K, Holiday Stationstores and Couche-Tard banners. It is the second-largest c-store company in the continent behind 7-Eleven.