FTC raises antitrust concerns over $1.57B Circle K deal, orders divestitures

Since President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has yet to keep up the level of enforcement it had under previous chair Lina Khan. The agency, however, returned to antitrust action in the case of fuel stations, just in time for the July 4th holiday. 

The FTC stepped in to force Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ACT), the parent company of Circle K, to divest 35 gas stations in the Midwest to prevent higher fuel prices. ACT was set to acquire 270 gas stations from Midwest supermarket chain Giant Eagle for $1.57 billion, but under the FTC order, the 35 locations owned by the chain in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania must instead be sold to Majors Management, a Georgia-based operator of more than 1,400 convenience stores across the U.S. he Canada-based ACT, which owns more than 16,000 stores across the globe, would not be able to re-acquire those stations for 10 years, according to the FTC.