Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. announced on Dec. 22 that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire all of the membership interests of True Blue Car Wash LLC. True Blue 0perates express tunnel car wash sites under the Clean Freak brand in the American Southwest as well as the Rainstorm brand in the American Midwest.

"We are committed to leading and innovating in fast-growing segments that meet our customers' needs. With True Blue, we have a great opportunity to extend our brands into a very attractive industry subcategory in a way that complements our convenience and mobility offerings and enhances value for our customers, said Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Founded in 2016, True Blue currently has 65 car washes conveniently located in high-traffic areas in Arizona, Texas, Illinois and Indiana with a strong pipeline of future sites planned and under development. True Blue has washed more than 10 million cars over the last year and has about 170,000 fast-pass subscription members, representing more than half of total revenue.

Couche-Tard believes these sites are also a natural extension of its current car wash network of more than 2,500 locations and will further enhance the customer experience. With more than 85% of True Blue's locations within three miles of a Circle K location, the transaction provides a geographic overlap to support traffic-driving offers between True Blue sites and Circle K convenience stores.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2023, subject to standard regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Upon the closing of the transaction, True Blue's management, office and operations teams are expected to join Couche-Tard, and current CEO Stuart Crum will lead its operations.

Couche-Tard operates in 24 countries and territories, with more than 14,300 convenience stores, of which about 10,900 offer road transportation fuel. About 122,000 people are employed throughout its network.