CNLR Buying 74 Circle K Stores in $170M Sale-Leaseback

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ORLANDO-Locally based Commercial Net Lease Realty Inc. has signed a definitive agreement with a subsidiary of Corpus Christi, TX-based Susser Holdings LLC to acquire 74 convenience stores in a sale-leaseback transaction valued at $170 million. The deal is tentatively scheduled to close by Jan. 31.

The acquisition price equates to an average $2.3 million per store. SSP Partners will be the owner of record and will lease back the stores under 20-year, triple-net leases, says CNLR CEO and president Craig Macnab. The properties are primarily located in Texas and operated under the Circle K brand.

The transaction “further establishes NNN (Commercial Net Lease Realty) in the convenience store sector,” Macnab says in a statement. Macnab says some of the properties will be held as inventory assets and later sold.

Susser operates about 300 Circle K convenience stores in Oklahoma and Texas under a licensing agreement with Circle K. The company also distributes motor fuel to more than 340 branded dealer units and 25 unattended units through its wholesale fuel division.