Convenience store mergers zooming this year

While convenience store mergers and acquisitions in recent years have generally involved owners of one or a handful of stores, there has been an uptick starting last year and extending into 2025 of larger deals.

In one prominent deal, Circle K’s Canadian parent company announced the acquisition of 270 GetGo stores spread among several states, including Indiana.

Faegre Drinker attorneys, including some in the Indianapolis office, represented Circle K’s parent in that $1.6 billion deal.

A spokesman for Faegre Drinker declined to comment for this story. But some M&A attorneys said they expect  heightened activity—for large and small convenience stores—to continue through the end of the year and into 2026.

Josh Hollingsworth, a partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Indianapolis office, said 2024 and 2025 have been active years for convenience store M&A deals.

“C-store deals have been one of the bright spots with M&A the last couple of years,” Hollingsworth said.

He said roughly two-thirds of convenience stores are single-owner businesses.

The National Association of Convenience Stores estimates there are more than 1 million convenience stores across the globe. 

In the U.S., there are more than 152,000 convenience stores, which conduct 160 million transactions a day and have annual sales of more than $906 billion. According to the trade association.

NACS reported in 2023 that its Region 3, which includes Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, had more than 23,000 stores.

Hollingsworth said some factors driving interest in the convenience store industry include the increased emphasis on improved food service and a shift in perception on the quality of food provided at stores.

He said a lot of convenience stores now are serving restaurant-quality food, which helps to offset the relatively low profit margins associated with fuel sales.

“There’s almost an unlimited runway for smaller C-store acquisitions,” Hollingsworth said, although he added that buying one convenience store at a time can be challenging.

Dan Peters, a partner in Amundsen Davis’ St. Louis office, echoed Hollingsworth and said the conditions for convenience store mergers have been strong for a while, with more aggressive acquisitions occurring with larger companies.

“I think convenience stores are very attractive to markets because they provide a predictable, consistent stream of income,” Peters said.

He said convenience stores aren’t generally competing on pricing.

With bigger companies, their convenience stores possess the ability to provide more consistency with  sale items, improved distribution channels and can generate a better consumer experience, Peters said.

Recent convenience store deals

Some industry observers have speculated that 2025 could see an increase in larger convenience store mergers.

CoBank reported in June that the pace of merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. convenience store sector was accelerating, with the company releasing a report that stated “c-store consolidation stands to disproportionally affect rural communities, many of which lack a grocery store or access to major food delivery services.”

“Mass merchandisers like Walmart are unevenly spread among states through various regions of the country,” said Billy Roberts, food and beverage economist with CoBank, in a news release. “Convenience stores are found in towns large or small. Food insecurity affects roughly 1 in 10 Americans and nearly 90% of U.S. counties with the highest rates of food insecurity are rural. Consequently, c-store consolidation trends can have a significant impact on food accessibility in rural areas.”

The company noted, based on NACS data, that only 22 c-store chains in the U.S. have more than 400 locations, while roughly 96,000 have 10 or fewer. The majority of the sector – 63% – is single-store operators.

Pennsylvania-based Giant Eagle announced in July it had completed the sale of its 270 GetGo and WetGo locations to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the parent company of the convenience store chain Circle K.

The GetGo stores are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The chain employs about 3,500 people.

Prior to the deal, citing antitrust concerns, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent order in June requiring ACT to divest 35 gas stations in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

This came in response to ACT’s proposed $1.57 billion acquisition of the 270 retail fuel outlets.

Under a proposed consent order, the FTC required ACT to divest the 35 gas stations, which will be acquired by Majors Management, LLC.

The consent order settled FTC charges that ACT’s deal with Giant Eagle was anticompetitive and would likely lead to higher fuel costs for consumers in the three states.

“This anticompetitive acquisition threatened to make Americans pay more at the pump by raising fuel prices,” said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in the June announcement. “The FTC’s action today preserves competition between gas stations that is critical for keeping fuel prices in check. The FTC will keep a watchful eye on retail fuel markets to make sure American consumers can spend less on gas and keep more money in their pockets.”

ACT also withdrew in July a $47 billion proposal to acquire Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., 7-Eleven’s parent company, due to what it termed “a lack of constructive engagement.”

What will rest of the year, 2026 look like for convenience store deals?

Peters said he expects the high convenience store M&A activity to continue into the near future.

He said companies have adapted to economic conditions like higher interest rates.

Robert Greising, a partner at Krieg DeVault LLP, said, in general, he’s seen somewhat of a slowdown this year with convenience store M&A activity, although he stressed that it still remains an active market.

He noted there are different target markets for convenience store owners, whether it be establishing stores at interstate interchanges or opening locations that serve populations without access to major retail stores like Wal-Mart or Target.

Convenience store deals are impacted by some of the same economic conditions that affect other industries, Greising noted.

“I think you’re seeing a bit more stability in the financial markets, although there’s still disruptions,” Griesing said, adding that the federal government shutdown and U.S. tariff disputes with China are two current factors that are creating uncertainty.

Greising said he feels there is pent up market demand. Hollingsworth said he felt there’s “almost an unlimited runway” for smaller C-store acquisitions now and into the foreseeable future, although he acknowledged that it can be challenging to buy one convenience store at a time.

He said interest rates have some impact on M&A deals across all industries, but tariffs do not impact convenience stores as much as other business sectors.•