Convenience Stores M&A Declines as Market-Moving Deals Create Overhang
Capstone Partners latest Convenience Store & Fuel Distribution Market Update reports that convenience stores M&A activity has stalled year to date (YTD), pressured by deal discussions and announcements of impending transactions and potential store divestitures. Sector fundamentals (in-store sales, fuel margins, input costs) have remained healthy, creating expectations for the M&A market to open after prospective sellers see clarity around supply-demand dynamics.
Convenience stores M&A activity has decreased 35.7% YOY through YTD 2025. General uncertainty in the M&A marketplace due to tariff headwinds has primarily driven the slowdown in dealmaking. Clarity on the direction of tax policies and deregulation under the new administration will likely support a resumption of sector M&A activity as business owners find more comfortability with the next four years and what regulatory policies will be adopted. Strategic buyers have continued to account for the majority (88.9%) of transactions in the sector. Scaled operators have capitalized on the convenience store channel’s resilience and moderate insulation from tariff headwinds, keeping balance sheets strong and open for acquisitions. Capstone expects consolidation trends to continue gaining momentum in 2025, with the latter half of 2025 ripe for a pick-up in convenience stores M&A volume after a general slowdown in dealmaking in 2024.
Also included in this report:
Where convenience store operators are focusing growth efforts and an analysis of key sector performance metrics.
How Capstone’s Financial Advisory Services (FAS) Team can support operational initiatives and accelerate value through data analytics, including a performance improvement case study.
A breakdown on what types of buyers have actively engaged in the convenience stores M&A market and the average store count per acquisition through YTD.
A timeline of Alimentation Couche-Tard’s (TSX:ATD) proposed acquisition of Seven & i (TSE:3382) with M&A market implications.
Valuation insight into Sunoco’s (NYSE:SUN) $9.1 billion acquisition of Parkland (TSX:PKI).
