Applegreen has acquired a majority stake in motorway service area (MSA) operator Welcome Break in a deal worth £321m (€361.8m).
The acquisition is its biggest so far, making it one of the biggest MSA operators in the UK.
Buying a 55% stake in Welcome Break is the award-winning Irish MSA operators first British acquisition and the deal is set to be approved by shareholders by September.
Welcome Break operates 24 motorway service areas, two trunk road service areas and 29 hotels across 35 locations in the UK, with around 85 million customers per year. It currently employs more than 5,000 people.
Applegreen chief executive Bob Etchingham said:
“Welcome Break is a fantastic business, it has led the way in providing the very best food and beverage facilities on the UK motorways”.
“We were attracted to Welcome Break because of the strength of its franchise, the excellent management team and the committed staff at each of its 35 locations.”
Darren Kyte, chairman of Welcome Break Group said:
“This is a transformational transaction in the UK MSA sector, and I am sure that the combination of the Applegreen service area operations in the UK with those of Welcome Break, and combined management capabilities will help build further on the consistent and strong earnings growth seen by both businesses over the past decade”.
What does this mean for you?
- All of our customer who have a UKFuels fuel card will be able to use their fuel cards at these MSAs.
- 26 extra fuel stations will be added to the network giving your drivers and fleet managers greater route options when planning motorway journeys.
