Applegreen ‘to transform’ fuel forecourts with €70m share placing

Applegreen, the Irish forecourt fuel supplier, plans to benefit from the “grim” reputation of motorway service stations in Britain as it announced a €70m placing of shares and detailed its expansion plans.

In its first placing of new and existing shares, Applegreen’s co-founders Bob Etchingham and Joe Barrett said they would sell about a quarter of the company to institutions and other investors. They plan to use most of the proceeds form the listings on London’s AIM and Dublin’s Enterprise Securities Market to upgrade existing forecourts and drive their expansion plans.

In time, they hope that acquisitions in Britain will transform the dowdy reputation of existing British motorway service stations which have long attracted criticism from consumer groups there.