Alimentation Couche-Tard’s deal to buy CST Brands is being praised by analysts for its synergistic value, easing some concerns that can come with takeovers of this magnitude.

The Quebec-based convenience store chain announced on Monday that it has reached a deal to acquire Texas-based CST for US$4.4 billion, giving Couche-Tard a footprint of roughly 10,000 locations in North America, compared to 8,273 for 7-Eleven.

In an interview with BNN on Monday, Bruce Campbell, president and portfolio manager at Campbell, Lee & Ross highlighted Couche-Tard’s strong track record in finding synergies in its takeover deals. 

“In Couche-Tard’s case [they’re] just buying plain old convenience stores and plugging them in into [their] system and realizing cost synergies and doing it better,” Campbell said. “They’re not re-inventing the wheel … It’s just a larger number of stores.”

Desjardins analyst Keith Howlett warned last week that Couche-Tard’s then-reported pursuit CST takeover could present regulatory hurdles. However, that concern was eased Monday with the announcement that Couche-Tard would unload some Canadian CST assets to Parkland Fuel Corp in an estimated US$750 million deal by early 2017.

In the U.S., regulatory hurdles for the CST takeover are expected to be limited, according to Mizuho Securities’ Betty Chen.

“Given the highly fragmented U.S. market, (60-65 per cent of C-stores are ‘mom and pop’ operators), we expect limited U.S regulatory issues,” she wrote.

The takeover represents the latest in a spate of deals for Couche-Tard since April 2014 and comes just months after the chain’s March acquisition of 279 locations from Imperial Oil.

CIBC World Markets analyst Mark Petrie praised the timeliness of the deal in a note to investors on Monday, calling it “highly attractive” for Couche-Tard.

“CST represents the last large strategic asset believed to be for sale in North America and in particular, it includes a strong presence in Texas,” he wrote.

Campbell hinted at this in an interview with BNN, stressing that if Couche-Tard is planning a next move, it will not be immediately forthcoming.

“Probably [the next expansion move by Couche-Tard] will be Europe, will be the next large one but you can forget about that for a while because this is large and they’ll need to integrate it,” Campbell said.

He stressed that the CST pickup could renew interest in the stock, adding “I think it could get some excitement back.”