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Topaz Energy

Topaz
Company typePrivate company limited by shares
Subsidiary
IndustryOil and natural gas
Founded2005
DefunctJune 2018
FateAcquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard and rebranded as Circle K
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
Area served
Ireland
Key people
Denis O'Brien
ProductsPetroleum and derived products
service stations
convenience stores
Websitewww.circlek.ie

Topaz was an Irish petroleum retail chain, which had a presence across the island of Ireland. The legal entity was formed in 2005 and previously traded under the Statoil and Shell brands, until 2008 when the Topaz brand replaced both in Ireland. It acquired Esso's Irish operations in 2015.[1] In June 2018, The Topaz brand was replaced by Circle K.

History

The company was formed by Ion Equity in 2005 as a vehicle to take over part of the Irish operations of Royal Dutch Shell plc (the filling station and home heating operation, Irish Shell Limited) as well as the Irish operations of Statoil. This was controversial in itself, as the Competition Authority, which must approve large mergers and acquisitions, failed to take a decision on the takeover of Statoil's assets within the time frame allowed, thus automatically approving the deal. This was the first time this had happened in the Authority's history. [citation needed]

The company was slow to reveal its branding strategy, continuing at first to trade under the Shell, Statoil, and Fareplay brands. However, beginning in March 2008, Topaz began replacing both these brands with its own. The Fareplay brand, to which Topaz owned worldwide rights, was also retired and replaced with a number of Topaz convenience store brands including Topaz Restore, Topaz Express and later Re.Store.

As of 2012, Topaz operated 118 Company Owned Company Operated (COCO) sites in the Republic of Ireland and 1 site in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Billionaire Denis O'Brien acquired Topaz in December 2013, having bought €300 million of its loans from Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).[2] In May 2014, O'Brien appointed former Taoiseach Brian Cowen to the board of Topaz to join himself, his nephew (who is also CEO of Smiles Dental), Sean Corkery (CEO of O'Brien's Siteserv), Lucy Gaffney (chairperson of O'Brien's Communicorp) and Colm Doherty (former managing director of Allied Irish Banks).[3] In December 2014, Topaz's parent company Kendrick Investments announced it would buy all of Esso's Irish operations.[4] Profits at Topaz increased during O'Brien's first year of ownership.[5]

In December 2015, it was announced that Topaz was being sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard, with Circle K's forecourt shops to be rebranded under that company's Circle K brand.[6] The deal closed in spring 2016.[7] Subsequently, most of the Denis O'Brien-connected Directors retired from the Board and the CFO Niall Anderton was appointed as CEO.

Topaz also introduced the Miles fuel brand in 2017; this was in all Topaz petrol stations by August 2017.

In 2018, the Topaz brand was retired in favour of Alimentation Couch-Tard's international company Circle K in April 2018.[8]

In 2019, the company was acquired by DP world for a deal worth $1.1 billion.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Topaz to be sold for over €400m". RTÉ News. 2 December 2015.
  2. ^ Taylor, Cliff (2 December 2015). "The question is, why has Denis O'Brien sold Topaz now?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Denis O'Brien owned Topaz appoints Brian Cowen as director: A number of O'Brien's other close associates have also been appointed to the board". TheJournal.ie. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Denis O'Brien-owned Topaz to take control of 38 Esso stations". TheJournal.ie. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Denis O'Brien is making more money from his petrol stations". TheJournal.ie. 18 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  6. ^ Paul, Mark (3 December 2015). "O'Brien sells Topaz for more than double what he paid". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Topaz to be sold to Canadian fuel retail business - RTÉ News". RTÉ.ie. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Fuel station operator Topaz rebrands to Circle K in €20m move". RTE. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. ^ "DP World splashes over $1 billion on Topaz acquisition". Offshore Energy Today. Navingo. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
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