Independent forecourt retailer Euro Garages has clinched a £100m-plus finance package to support its latest acquisitions spree.
The funding, comprising senior debt facilities, will be used to fund the company’s purchase of 104 Esso sites in the South East and 68 Shell sites that it announced earlier this year.
The new sites takes the £646m turnover business’s total to about 360 forecourts across the UK.
The funding, from a Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking-led syndicate of seven providers, will also be used to invest in refurbishments and improvements and new and existing sites.
Mohsin Issa, managing director of Euro Garages, said: “With the support of Lloyds Bank and our other banking partners, we are set to become the second largest independent forecourt retailer in the UK, bringing our best-in-class convenience offer and brand partnerships to more customers across the UK while they fill up at the pump.”
The new financial arrangement marked “a milestone moment” for Euro Garages, as it almost doubled the breadth of its portfolio and extended its banking partners, he said.
“Thanks to a number of key acquisitions across the UK in recent years, we have gained extensive experience in integrating new sites and are looking forward to transferring these new locations into the existing Euro Garages portfolio.”
Paul Foster, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, described Euro Garages as a genuine example of a local business expanding successfully, growing from just one forecourt in 2001.
“This is in part down to the growth in the number of vehicles on the road and the consolidation of the petrol forecourt sector, as well as the increased demand from consumers for retail convenience for groceries and food-to-go, which the management team has capitalised on by developed partnerships with premium brands to encourage footfall and sales,” he said.
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