Cumberland Farms completes $830m sale of Australian business

Cumberland Farms, the convenience retail limb of UK-based EG Group, has completed the merchantability of its Australian concern to Ampol for astir $830m (£626.59m) successful cash.

The disposal ends Cumberland Farms' operations successful Australia.

The institution said that the transaction forms portion of the wider group's plans to trim indebtedness and absorption resources connected its main maturation markets successful the US and Europe, wherever it generates astir of its gross and has the largest fig of sites.

Cumberland Farms said the proceeds volition beryllium utilized to afloat repay its US-dollar elder secured notes, with the purpose of lowering some outstanding indebtedness and the related yearly involvement costs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission cleared the woody earlier this month, allowing the transaction to implicit and bringing Cumberland Farms' Australian marketplace beingness to an end.

Cumberland Farms CEO Russ Colaco said: "This is an important measurement successful reshaping our planetary portfolio, strengthening our equilibrium expanse and improving liquidity. I privation to convey the Australian squad for their contributions to the concern implicit the years. We are present firmly focused connected our halfway maturation markets successful the US and Europe."

Across its markets, Cumberland Farms employs astir 32,000 radical and operates much than 4,000 sites.

Separately, successful March, the institution agreed to get Coen Markets, a convenience and substance retail operator, expanding its beingness successful parts of the north-eastern US.

The transaction includes 54 operating locations and 3 new-to-industry sites nether development, covering Coen Markets' property successful occidental Pennsylvania, eastbound Ohio and bluish West Virginia.

In a abstracted development, the Financial Times reported past period that EG Group had confidentially submitted paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission tied to a imaginable stock merchantability that could rise astir $1bn and worth the institution astatine much than $9bn.

"Cumberland Farms completes $830m merchantability of Australian business" was primitively created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.