Applegreen sells its UK filling station business to rival

Irish forecourt operator Applegreen has agreed to sell its UK filling station business to UK rival EG On The Move for an undisclosed sum.

Applegreen’s UK filling station business has 98 sites and employs 1,142 staff. The company said it would use the proceeds from the transaction to invest in its business in Ireland, the UK, and the United States.

The company said the sale does not affect Applegreen’s Welcome Break business in the UK, which also includes its operations in Northern Ireland, which employs more than 6,000 people at its 59 sites, including 34 motorway service areas and 31 hotels.

“We remain totally committed to our presence and further expansion in the UK market and have significant plans to expand both Welcome Break and our EV charging business there, as part of the €1 billion investment plan that we announced late last year,” said Applegreen co-founder and chief executive Joe Barrett.

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“We are growing the Welcome Break business in the UK by developing new-build locations and revamping many of our existing sites. We have a strong pipeline of additional UK sites for development on locations adjacent to motorways and alongside a number of major A-roads.”

Mr Barret said that in Ireland, where it operates across 200 locations, Applegreen will continue to invest in its petrol filling station business, “as it is an integral part of its Irish operations”.

“The roll out of our successful M&S partnership, which is currently in 21 locations, will continue and we are also investing to expand our Braeburn Coffee brand,” he said.

Applegreen said it would continue to invest heavily in its EV charging business in Ireland, the UK and the US, with an €85 million expansion programme planned over the next five years.

As part of the transaction with EG On The Move, which is expected to close at the end of this month, all of Applegreen’s UK filling station staff are expected to transfer to the new owner “apart from a very small number of employees who work in functions where there is overlap with the new owner”.

“These employees are either being redeployed or have been offered a redundancy programme,” it added.

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