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On 31 July 2026, Alimentation Couche-Tard, the company behind Circle K agreed to buy Poland's Żabka: more than 13,000 stores and around US$8.6 billion in equity value, the largest deal in its history. Just six days earlier, Seven & i, the owner of 7-Eleven, had pulled out of its own Żabka investment. A year before that, Couche-Tard had walked away from a US$47 billion pursuit of Seven & i itself. This episode opens up the operating system behind both decisions. We cover:

• Alain Bouchard's start in a single Quebec dépanneur (corner store) in 1980.
• The 460 store visits behind the 2003 Circle K deal.
• A decentralised model built on "9,000 chains of one."
• The Statoil playbook in the Nordics and Baltics.
• Five headline deals walked away from, in four countries.
• The fuel-margin, cost and self-distribution engine running more than 17,000 sites.

We close on the question this show keeps asking: can an operating system outlast its architect? Here the founder still chairs the board, and a third CEO is running the biggest deal the company has ever done.

Sources

• Couche-Tard, Q1 fiscal 2027 results (1 Sep 2026): https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/alimentation-couche-tard-announces-its-results-for-its-first-quarter-of-fiscal-year-2027-851557013.html
• Couche-Tard, Żabka agreement and tender offer (31 Jul 2026): https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alimentation-couche-tard-announces-agreement-to-acquire-controlling-stake-in-abka-group-and-launches-voluntary-tender-offer-302839695.html
• Couche-Tard, Core + More strategy update (11 Feb 2026): https://corporate.couche-tard.com/2026-02-11-ALIMENTATION-COUCHE-TARD-PRESENTS-ITS-2026-BUSINESS-STRATEGY-UPDATE-AND-NEW-LONG-TERM-GUIDANCE
• Couche-Tard, "10 for the Win" strategic plan (11 Oct 2023): https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/alimentation-couche-tard-announces-its-10-for-the-win-five-year-strategic-plan-821350918.html
• Couche-Tard, offer for Statoil Fuel & Retail (18 Apr 2012): https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/alimentation-couche-tard-inc-to-make-recommended-offer-to-acquire-statoil-fuel--retail-asa-for-us28-billion-510036451.html
• Cstore Dive, TotalEnergies European sites acquisition (2023): https://cstoredive.com/news/couche-tard-acquire-2200-totalenergies-sites/645213
• Cstore Dive, Circle K and McLane third-party logistics (Apr 2025): https://www.cstoredive.com/news/circle-k-mclane-third-party-logistics/746665/
• Cstore Dive, Otsego distribution centre opens (Nov 2025): https://www.cstoredive.com/news/alimentation-couche-tard-mclane-distribution-center/805985/

Operational Velocity is for education and general information only and is not investment, financial, legal, or tax advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. The views expressed are the host's own, the company and figures discussed are drawn from public sources believed reliable but not guaranteed, and you should do your own research and consult a qualified professional before making any decision.