bp buys US TravelCenters for US$1.3 billion

TravelCenters of America has announced that it will be acquired by bp for about $1.3 billion in cash as the British energy giant seeks to expand its travel convenience and fuel supply footprint in the United States.

bp has offered to hold $86 a share in TravelCenters, a 74% premium to the stock's last close on Wednesday.

Shares of the company rose 71% in pre-market trading on Thursday. TravelCenters has approximately 281 highway locations in 44 states, offering services including diesel and gasoline fuel, truck maintenance and repair, restaurants, travel shops and parking.

The company said the service complements bp's existing convenience and transport businesses and will help expand its range of services to include electric vehicle charging, biofuels, renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen.

On Wednesday, bp announced plans to invest $1 billion in electric vehicle charging across the US by 2030. Convenience is one of bp's five growth engines for strategic transformation. The London-listed company aims to spend around half of its annual investment in these transformational growth engines by 2030.

The acquisition of TravelCenters is expected to immediately increase bp's EBITDA, growing to about $800 million by 2025, the company said.