Yep. This was right after the financial crisis I believe. But I CASY board members convinced shareholders it was a terrible deal. 15 years later, the company has 10-12xed. So, not a bad rejection.
They are the 3rd largest convenience store chain in the US. But the main difference here is Couche-Tard is a global player while Casey's is just a midwest US play.
However, there is a core difference here. Casey's is kind of a restaurant combined with a gas station. Kind of that truck stop style situation. So, much different than Couche-Tard.
Couche-Tard sources all their food. Casey's makes it. So, you could say it is a more vertically integrated player.
My main concern with CASY is when they eventually have to expand out of the midwest, will the business model still work?
Overall, I think it's a great business but I am a buyer of Couche-Tard over this one primarily based on valuation and just a more diverse business model. Casey's doesn't have the "law of large numbers" applied to it yet, meaning when companies get bigger it is harder to do what they do well on a larger scale.
So for this reason, I'd choose the blue-chip global player overa regional play, especially considering it is half the valuation.