Applegreen plc is a major petrol forecourt retailer in the Republic of Ireland with a significant and growing presence in the United Kingdom. From an operational base of 64 sites at the end of 2009, the Group has grown to 152 sites as at 31 December 2014, across the Republic of Ireland (96 sites), United Kingdom (54 sites) and in Long Island, United States (2 sites). Applegreen is the number one motorway service area operator by number of sites in the Republic of Ireland.

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 2617T
Applegreen PLC
04 January 2017
 
This announcement contains inside information within the meaning of the EU Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014
 
Applegreen plc
("Applegreen" or the "Company)
Proposed acquisition of 50% of Dublin fuel terminal
Dublin, London, 4 January 2017:
Applegreen plc is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire a 50% share in the Joint Fuels Terminal in Dublin port from the Topaz Energy Group for a consideration of c.€15.7m which will be funded from existing resources. The acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions including the approval of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The transaction is expected to complete in Q1 2017.
The Joint Fuels Terminal, which is 50% owned by Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, is one of three fuel importing facilities in Dublin port. The interest being acquired was previously owned by Esso Ireland. The proposed acquisition provides Applegreen with the facility to import fuel directly from refineries thereby securing a strategically valuable platform that provides a competitive supply for the majority of its Irish fuel requirements.
This acquisition, if it completes, is expected to be earnings accretive from 2017.

AGM Statement and Result of AGM
RNS
RNS Number : 4151G
Applegreen PLC
30 May 2017
 
Applegreen plc
AGM Statement and Result of AGM
Applegreen plc ('Applegreen' or the 'Group'), a major petrol forecourt retailer in the Republic of Ireland with a growing presence in the United Kingdom, provided the following update at its Annual General Meeting held yesterday:
 
"Applegreen had a positive start to the 2017 financial year both in terms of trading and the development of the business.
 
Our business in Ireland is delivering strong growth in non-fuel sales in particular while fuel margin experience has been in line with 2016. We continue to enjoy good growth in UK food sales as we expand our branded food offering. Overall the trading performance of the business for the first four months of the year has been in line with the Board's expectations.
 
Since 31 December 2016 we have added 16 sites to the estate.
 
In the Republic of Ireland we have added four new Petrol Filling Stations ('PFS'), one new Service Area and five dealer sites. In the UK we have opened three new PFS as well as our latest Motorway Service Area in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Our pipeline of new PFS continues to be strong in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
 
We have also opened two new PFS sites in the New England area of the USA and have made very good progress in generating further opportunities to grow in that region. We have added to our management team to cater for the growth planned in that region.
 
We completed six rebrands/ upgrades so far this year including two former PFS sites in Great Britain that we upgraded to Trunk Road Service Areas.
 
The pipeline of Service Areas continues to develop in both Ireland and the UK. We have a significant number of prospects in both core markets at various stages of the planning process and are confident of further expanding our businesses in each territory.
Subject to shareholder approval, we intend to pay a maiden dividend of 1.25c per share in June 2017. We committed to a prudent dividend policy at the time of our IPO and our financial performance since then warrants this move to deliver further shareholder value
In summary, the Board is very satisfied with the progress and performance of the business for the first four months of the year. This gives us confidence in our ability to meet our growth targets for 2017."
All of the resolutions proposed at the Annual General Meeting were duly passed.

A buy in IC this week.

Acquisition of majority stake of welcome break

The "Welcome-Break" deal looks very sensible, so I wonder why W-B wants to sell? Did APGN pay too much, perhaps? - we'll have to wait for the Market's reaction following the next set of accounts.

Whilst motorways aren't going to close for a while, yet, the move to electric is a concern, so that more break-points may be needed ( between Services ), so it's possible these may be what W-B is going to use the money for. If your elec-vehicle needs an hour to charge, that puts you in a cash-extraction position for both the "electric" and the seating/entertainment - they can adjust the charge-rate to maximise profits.
Did APGN not see this possibility?
Digging up the parking-spaces to install electric-points will be very difficult for existing sites. For NEW developments, I see a ride-on tram as a solution; this can also carry the electric to the cars along a very-long parking area.

Of course what EV's need is a standardised "Battery-Pack" - but that opportunity appears to have been missed, as Mfrs chase new tech to maximise mileage.... quite forgetting that 50 miles is NOT enough to get you on holiday.

APGN is too expensive for me, at this time.
I note the stock is suspended, DYOR, hopefully this is just a technical matter and will resume ASAP

i have a fairly modest holding of these in my sipp, where they have done very little
i bought on a good analysis in Quantum Leap and the guy has a good record for picking winners
this deal with WB could prove very good indeed, but only time will tell

Applegreen raises €175m for Welcome Break acquisition
StockMarketWire.com
Petrol forecourt retailer Applegreen returned from suspension and said it had raised €175m (£156m) via a share placement to part fund its acquisition of a controlling stake in UK motorway service operator Welcome Break.

New shares in the company were issued at €6.08 (543 pence) each.

Applegreen in August announced it had agreed to acquire a 55% stake in Welcome Break from NIBC European Infrastructure for €361.8m.

'This acquisition is transformational for our company in the strategically important UK market and we look forward to completion at the end of October,' chief executive Bob Etchingham said.

'Building a wide and high quality investor base in parallel with expanding our business across chosen markets are core objectives and this transaction and associated equity raise significantly advances that strategy.'



At 12:55pm: (LON:APGN) Applegreen Plc share price was +47p at 585p


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per #15 :-)

:-))