Applegreen goes private as founders and Blackstone tie up £653m deal
Irish petrol station and roadside convenience operator Applegreen has agreed to a bid from a consortium led by investment company Blackstone.
The deal values the firm at 718.1m euro, a premium of around 48 per cent on the firm’s share price on the day of the bid.
The buyout will see the firm go private.
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The firm operates 559 sites across Ireland, the UK and in the US, with the latter properties largely formed from a buyout of Welcome Break in 2018.
Blackstone Infrastructure Partners have joined with newly-formed B&J Holdings – owned by Applegreen’s founders Robert Etchingham and Joseph Barrett – to secure the deal.
They said: “Looking forward, Applegreen will transition its business through capital intensive highway projects and electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the needs of an evolving consumer.
“We believe private ownership is the appropriate structure for this transition and that in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, with its long-term focus and its significant ability to accelerate our growth, we have found the right partner for the next stage of the Applegreen journey.”
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